United jet clips lamp pole and bakery truck on Newark landing approach

How did a commercial jet come inches from disaster over one of the nation’s busiest airport corridors, and which safeguards failed before a United Airlines Boeing 767-400ER clipped a lamp pole and a bakery truck on final approach to Newark?

New footage from the truck has turned a startling Newark landing into a sharper accountability test. United Flight 169, arriving from Venice, Italy, was descending toward Runway 29 at about 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 3, with 221 passengers and 10 crew members aboard when a landing tire and the underside of the aircraft struck a light pole and then a tractor-trailer on the New Jersey Turnpike. The truck was hauling bread products for H & S Family of Bakeries, and the pole also hit a Jeep traveling on the highway.

The driver, identified as Warren Boardley, was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and later released. He also suffered cuts from broken glass, and a company executive said the plane’s tire went through the truck’s window and windshield. Despite the collision, the aircraft landed safely at Newark Liberty International Airport and taxied to the gate, with no injuries reported among the passengers or crew.

The incident immediately triggered scrutiny from federal investigators and airport authorities. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board opened investigations, and NTSB investigators arrived at Newark on Monday to gather information, including the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder. Officials have classified the case as an accident because of the extent of damage to the aircraft.

United said its maintenance team was evaluating the damage and that the flight crew had been removed from service during the safety investigation. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said investigators still did not know exactly what happened and would examine weather, air traffic control, airline operations and human performance. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the aircraft sustained minor damage, while airport staff inspected the runway for debris and normal operations resumed quickly.

The episode is drawing unusual attention because the airplane appeared to miss by only a narrow margin as it crossed the approach path near the turnpike. Aviation experts have described the aircraft as being inches from disaster, a phrase that underscores how quickly a routine arrival can become a serious safety event when airport operations, ground traffic and flight paths intersect over dense urban airspace.