A United Airlines passenger aircraft ended up colliding with a utility pole and a trailer while attempting to land at Newark Liberty International Airport on a recent Sunday afternoon, according to officials.
The incident occurred as United Airlines Flight 169 was touching down at Newark just before 2 p.m., crashing into a utility pole located along the New Jersey Turnpike, as reported by the Federal Aviation Administration.
An airline spokesperson confirmed the Boeing plane, which had taken off from Venice, Italy, “landed safely” and managed to reach the gate without major issues, despite the circumstances.
Runway 29, where the plane landed, is oriented perpendicular to the busy highway. Typically, aircraft landing in this area fly at a low altitude, just a few feet above the cars on the Turnpike.
According to New Jersey State Police, the landing gear and underside of the aircraft impacted both the pole and a trailer. The pole subsequently fell onto a Jeep that was traveling on the turnpike.
The driver of the trailer truck was taken to a nearby hospital but sustained non-life-threatening injuries, the police stated.
Fortunately, none of the 221 passengers or 10 crew members aboard the international flight were harmed during the mishap.
The airline reported that the entire crew has been “removed from duty” while the incident is being investigated.
Footage from a witness driving along the Turnpike captured the plane in a somewhat unsteady descent, with one utility pole visibly snapped in half and the lower portion of another bent over toward the runway.
In a comment on the video shared on X, one viewer remarked, “This would never happen to a Spirit Airlines pilot. It’s true!”
Interestingly, Spirit Airlines had just ceased operations the day before, leading to significant travel disruptions at airports nationwide.
Another viewer humorously noted, “Newark infrastructure finally took revenge on airline delays.”
The investigation into this accident is currently ongoing.
