A bakery truck driver in New Jersey is lucky to be alive after a scary accident on the New Jersey turnpike. A United Airlines Boeing 767 was on its final approach to Newark Liberty International Airport, inbound from Venice, Italy, when the landing gear struck a light pole. That caused the light pole to fall and apparently strike the bakery truck.
🚨 JUST IN: A United Airlines Boeing 767 just hit a DELIVERY TRUCK on the highway while attempting to land at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 3, 2026
This is INSANE video.
Flight 169, inbound from Italy, landed safely, thank God 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/8EWaVL5ApE
The flight landed safely and the driver suffered only minor injuries.
A United Airlines Boeing 767 arriving from Venice, Italy, struck a highway streetlight and a tractor-trailer during its approach to Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday afternoon, injuring the truck’s driver but leaving all on board the plane unharmed. According to New Jersey State Police, the incident occurred as United Flight 169 was landing on Runway 29, which sits less than 400 feet from the New Jersey Turnpike.
The plane, carrying 221 passengers and 10 crew members, was traveling at more than 160 miles per hour when its landing gear and underside hit a streetlight pole and then a tractor-trailer on the busy highway. The pole subsequently struck a Jeep traveling nearby. Dashcam footage from the truck showed the sudden impact as the plane’s landing gear struck the vehicle, shattering glass and startling the driver.
The truck driver, identified as Warren Boardley of Baltimore, sustained cuts to his arm but was able to pull over safely. He was treated at a hospital and released later Sunday, according to Chuck Paterakis, a representative of the bakery company that owns the truck. No injuries were reported among the plane’s passengers or crew, and the aircraft taxied to the gate under its own power.
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In a still from the truck's dash cam, you can see how close the landing gear was to the truck.
This is the landing gear on the United Airlines 767 landing on Newark. This dude is incredibly fortunate! Those pilots are in deep s***! pic.twitter.com/tLNIOWQhRZ
— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) May 4, 2026
This could have ended so much worse.
Here’s the data on the United 767 that hit the truck and light pole on short final.
— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) May 4, 2026
The speed looks about right. Maybe a bit slow. The descent rate at that height, however, is insane.
That’s the definition of “unstable approach.” pic.twitter.com/mNkvKPIlfB
Both the FAA and NTSB are actively investigating the accident. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy joined Fox News this morning to discuss the crash and investigation.
Today investigators are on the scene investigating how a United plane struck a light pole as it approached Newark airport on Sunday.
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) May 4, 2026
America has the safest airspace in the world and we will get to bottom of what happened here @FAAnews @NTSB pic.twitter.com/PvJQ5NZ69F
"This is a well-trained pilot," Duffy said. "We don't quite know yet what happened and, again, did the pilot hit the truck? Did he hit the light pole? So the NTSB is coming up today, the FAA is going to be there today as well. And we don't want to get ahead of the facts and oftentimes, the first facts are wrong. But obviously, there was issues with a couple vehicles on the roadway. And what could have happened was there were gusty winds yesterday and, again, I don't want to speculate... if the plane was too low and he flared up, the tail would come down. But we'll have more information in the next days."
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