You don’t expect to be hit by a widebody jet while driving down the New Jersey Turnpike, but that’s essentially what happened when a Untied Airlines 767-400 struck a light pole and truck on final approach into Newark.
United Boeing 767 Strikes Truck And Light Pole On Newark Approach
A United Airlines Boeing 767-400 operating UA169 from Venice (VCE) to Newark (EWR) struck both a light pole and a bakery truck while on final approach to Newark Liberty International Airport.
This video popped into my feed yesterday and I thought, surely this must be AI right?
The incident occurred just before landing on runway 29, where aircraft cross directly over the New Jersey Turnpike at very low altitude. But this approach was far lower than it should have been. The aircraft’s landing gear and underside made contact with a light pole and a truck on the highway below before continuing on to land normally (it isn’t clear to me if it only struck the light pole, which then hit the truck or whether it hit both the light pole and truck).
There were 221 passengers and 10 crew onboard. No one on the aircraft was injured. Amazingly, the truck driver suffered minor injuries and was treated and released…when I saw the video above, I assumed it killed the driver.
Here’s video from another angle:
This Was Not A “Close Call”
This was not a near miss. This was contact. Newark’s runway 29 is known for dramatic approaches over the Turnpike. Anyone who has flown into Newark has seen just how close aircraft get to the highway.
But “close” is not the same as “hitting things.” After landing, the pilot did mention something was “felt” upon landing…talk about an understatement!
Early indications point to a simple but serious issue: the aircraft was too low on approach. It does not appear wind was a factor.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are now investigating, and United has pulled the crew from service pending review. Per United:
“United Flight 169 from Venice to Newark landed safely after making contact with an object while on approach. The aircraft taxied to the gate and customers deplaned normally. We are working with authorities to investigate.
“Our maintenance team is evaluating damage to the aircraft,” said a United spokesperson. “We will conduct a rigorous flight safety investigation into the incident and our crew has been removed from service as part of the process.”
Interesting that there is no reference to the truck…
CONCLUSION
A United 767 coming in too low struck a truck and light pole on final approach into Newark.
Fortunately, no one onboard was hurt and the injuries on the ground were minor. But this is a serious incident that should never happen, even at an airport known for low approaches. We’ll learn more once investigators dig into the data, but it sounds like pilots were not paying attention.
Utterly unbelievable and totally thought-provoking! To the attention of Scott Kirby & Co.!
Initial findings suggest the aircraft flew much lower than it should have during the approach (approximately 200 feet/60 meters) and strong winds exceeding 35 miles per hour (approximately 56 km/h) in the area made landing conditions difficult. The FAA and NTSB have launched a comprehensive investigation into the incident. UA has temporarily suspended the flight crew to monitor the situation.
The 23.9-year-old UA 767-400ER jet, with its 221 passengers and 10 crew members, could have faced something far worse… Incidentally, a speedy recovery to the injured truck driver!
Are you a real person?
You are not a person with a conscious since you would let Israel so anything to the people in Gaza. Your thoughts are based on a fictional book called the Bible instead human decency. You refused to say what Israel did in Gaza genocide. Also you are total ok with what Israel is doing in the West Bank. Killing by Isrealie colonizers in the West Bank. You are an awful human.
You are an idiot. Israel did what was necessary defend itself in Gaza, which is very different than the unlawful and violent settlement movement in the West Bank. Why do you continue to distort? And my support for Israeli defensive efforts is rooted in realpolitik, not a biblical passage twisted out of context.
You don’t think Israel has gone past defense at this point?
I was wondering, too. Why does ‘Güntürk Üstün’ usually do three rapid-fire, random comments on here? I mean, if that’s his thing, that’s cool, but, like… it’s odd sometimes.
But you already know the answer, right?
No, I actually don’t, though I know Güntürk Üstün is a real person interested in aviation.
Also, trains. He does his posts on the Trains Magazine forum also.
As you mentioned, Güntürk Üstün is a real person highly interested in aviation (but also maritime and railroad) issues. By the way, “Randy” was right about Güntürk Üstün’s dedicated contribution to TRAINS Magazine.
Yep .
I’ve had AI review lots of your posts for comments, and it isn’t sold on him being a bot. Here’s as far as I’ve been able to land:
“My read after this post: I’d downgrade “ordinary human commenter” and upgrade “AI-assisted or semi-automated.” The fact that the blog owner himself asked “Are you a real person?” is telling. But the external footprint still makes “totally fake bot account” less likely than “real person, very unusual posting behavior, probably assisted by machine translation or AI.””
This was non preventable on the part of the truck driver. Getting hit by a 767 and living to tell about it.