Updated on: May 3, 2026 / 11:25 PM EDT / CBS New York
An investigation is underway after a United Airlines Boeing 767 struck a light pole and a tractor-trailer on the New Jersey Turnpike as it approached Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday afternoon.
Dash cam footage from the truck shows the moment Flight UA169, which originated in Venice, Italy, came into contact with the pole and truck. The flight had 221 passengers and 10 crew aboard. A frame-by-frame review of the video appears to show a landing gear tire outside the truck driver’s window.
New Jersey State Police said a preliminary investigation indicates a tire from the plane’s landing gear and the underside of the aircraft struck both the light pole and the tractor-trailer. The pole also hit a Jeep traveling on the turnpike.
The truck was headed to Smith’s Bakery depot in Newark and was about to exit the turnpike when it was struck, Chuck Paterakis, senior vice president of transportation and logistics and co-principal at H&S Bakery, told CBS Baltimore. The driver, identified by Paterakis as Warren Boardley, was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and later released. Paterakis said Boardley was treated for glass-related injuries to his arm and hand.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating, and the National Transportation Safety Board has opened a probe into the incident. United said the aircraft “came into contact with a light pole,” landed safely, taxied to the gate normally and that no passengers or crew were injured. The airline added its maintenance team is assessing damage and it will investigate how the contact occurred.
Cellphone video appears to show UA169 flying low over the turnpike before landing just after 2 p.m. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the plane was on approach to Runway 29 when it struck the pole, damaging the pole and the southbound tractor-trailer. Airport staff inspected the runway for debris and normal operations resumed.
The flight normally lands on Newark’s longer runways but, because of windy conditions, was vectored to Runway 29 — the airport’s shortest runway at 6,725 feet. By comparison, the other runways typically used by the Venice flight are 11,000 feet and 9,999 feet. The recommended minimum runway distance for a 767-400 is just over 6,000 feet, so the landing was within limits but offered a smaller margin of error and less buffer from the surrounding highways.
Former NTSB Chair and retired 737 captain Robert Sumwalt called the approach to Runway 29 “relatively short” and a “difficult approach,” noting it is not a straight-in landing and lacks some of the landing-assist technologies of the longer runways. CBS News senior transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave said investigators will want to determine why the airplane was too low, including whether wind, loss of situational awareness or other factors contributed.
Passengers and onlookers were shaken by the dash cam footage. “I’m so very happy that he’s OK, because that looks absolutely awful,” said Miranda Lee of Tenafly, New Jersey. “It is scary. It’s concerning, definitely,” said Sam Immanuel, a New Jersey resident. Gov. Mikie Sherrill wrote on social media that she was grateful the aircraft landed safely and all aboard were unharmed.