A delivery driver escaped with minor injuries Sunday after a United Airlines Boeing 767 struck his tractor trailer while landing at Newark airport, authorities said. The aircraft's landing gear and fuselage clipped the truck on the New Jersey Turnpike near the runway, then struck a light pole that damaged a nearby Jeep.
Warren Boardley, driving an H&S Family of Bakeries bread truck, suffered cuts to his arm and forearm from broken glass. He was treated at a hospital and released. No other injuries were reported.
The collision occurred on the turnpike, a major thoroughfare that runs directly beneath one of the airport's primary approach paths. Commercial jets regularly descend low over multiple lanes of traffic before touching down, placing vehicles in an unusual proximity to landing aircraft.
Dashboard camera footage from Boardley's truck captured the moment of impact. The video shows him singing to himself before he glances right in alarm as a loud screech and crash erupt. Glass and debris suddenly flood the frame before Boardley manages to pull over and contact his employer.
Chuck Paterakis, vice president of transportation for Schmidt Bakery and owner of H&S, praised the outcome after learning Boardley had non-life threatening injuries and all passengers and crew survived. "It could have been the opposite of what happened," Paterakis told WABC television. "A little help from God went a long way tonight for everybody on the plane, and including the driver."
United Flight 169 from Venice, Italy, landed safely despite the strike. Port Authority officials confirmed only minor damage to the aircraft and said normal airport operations resumed quickly after runway inspection for debris. United said its maintenance team began evaluating the damage while the airline removed the crew from service pending a rigorous flight safety investigation.
The National Transportation Safety Board dispatched an investigator to Newark on Monday and directed United to preserve the airplane's cockpit voice and flight data recorders for review.
The incident marks another close call at a major U.S. airport. In early December, a landing Air Canada jet collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia, killing two pilots and injuring more than 40 people. About 14 months before that, a regional American Airlines passenger jet and military helicopter collided near Washington DC over the Potomac River, killing more than 60 people.
Author James Rodriguez: "The fact that this driver walked away with cuts from glass is genuinely fortunate given the speeds and weights involved, but it also highlights a dangerous reality at Newark that nobody seems to want to fix: a major highway runs directly under the approach path."
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