TechnologyCBS Miami•May 4
Video shows United flight strike truck on New Jersey Turnpike before landing at Newark Liberty Airport
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Video shows United flight strike truck on New Jersey Turnpike before landing at Newark Liberty Airport
By
Jeff Capellini,
Jeff Capellini
Digital Producer, CBS New York
Jeff Capellini has been digital producer at CBS New York for 20 years. He previously worked for The Associated Press and several newspapers.
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Jeff Capellini,
Jenna DeAngelis
Jenna DeAngelis
Jenna DeAngelis
Jenna DeAngelis is an Emmy award winning journalist. She joined CBS News New York as a general assignment reporter in March 2018.
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Jenna DeAngelis
Updated on: May 4, 2026 / 11:37 AM EDT
/ CBS New York
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An investigation is underway after a United Airlines plane struck a light pole and a truck on the New Jersey Turnpike as it was coming in for a landing at Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday afternoon, officials said.Plane strikes light pole and truckDash cam footage from the truck shows the moment it is struck by Flight UA169, a Boeing 767 that originated in Venice, Italy, with 221 passengers and 10 crew members on board.A frame-by-frame review of the footage shows what appears to be the wheel of the plane outside the driver's window.
Video shows a Newark passenger jet flying low over the New Jersey Turnpike on May 3, 2026.
Patrick Oyulu
New Jersey State Police said a preliminary investigation indicated a tire from the plane's landing gear and "the underside of the plane" hit both the pole and the tractor-trailer. The pole also struck a Jeep traveling on the turnpike, state police said.The truck was traveling to Smith's Bakery depot in Newark and was about to exit the turnpike when it was hit, according to Chuck Paterakis, senior vice president of transportation and logistics and co-principal at Baltimore-based H&S Bakery. One of the plane's landing gear tires went through the truck's window and windshield, Paterakis told CBS Baltimore.The driver of the tractor-trailer, identified by Paterakis as Warren Boardley, was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and was later released, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said. Paterakis said he was treated for injuries resulting from glass in his arm and hand.The Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating the incident.
Factors that may have contributed to the mishapCellphone video appears to show UA169 flying low over the turnpike before landing just after 2 p.m."Upon its final approach into Newark International Airport, United flight 169 came into contact with a light pole. The aircraft landed safely, taxied to the gate normally and no passengers or crew were injured. Our maintenance team is evaluating damage to the aircraft and we will investigate how this occurred," the airline said, in part, in a statement.The Port Authority said the plane was on its way to Runway 29 when it hit the pole, causing damage to the pole and the tractor-trailer traveling south on the turnpike.Airport staff inspected the runway for debris and normal operations were quickly resumed, the Port Authority added.
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into Sunday's incident."We don't quite know yet what happened," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday morning. "We don't want to get ahead of the facts, and oftentimes the first facts are wrong, but obviously there were issues with a couple of vehicles on the roadway." Duffy noted that gusty winds may have played a role. "Obviously, this shouldn't happen," Duffy said. The initial report will come from the NTSB in 30 days. Questions about the landing"The question investigators are going to want to understand is, how did that happen? Why was the plane too low? Did wind factor into this? Was there a loss of situational awareness in the cockpit? What were the factors that contributed to allowing this airplane to be too low and no one catch it before this happened?" said Kris Van Cleave, CBS News senior transportation correspondent."I think the video is pretty remarkable, and the fact that we are talking about everyone surviving this incident is ... is pretty remarkable," Van Cleave added.
This was not the usual landing approach for United Flight 169. The daily Venice flight typically
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