This is the shocking moment a United Airlines passenger plane clipped a street light on a busy road as it came into land at a major airport. The Boeing 767 aircraft struck the street light on the New Jersey Turnpike on Sunday, seconds before it was due to land at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Federal authorities are carrying out an investigation with staff from the The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) looking into the shocking incident that occurred before the flight from Italy touched down. In video of the incident shot from a moving car on the turnpike, shocked onlookers can be heard to exclaim “Oh my goodness! That thing hit that!” United Airlines said in a statement: “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.”
Despite striking the light pole, United Flight 169 — a Boeing 767‑400 arriving from Venice — landed safely at around 2pm local time. None of the 221 passengers or 10 crew members were hurt.
The aircraft, registered as N77066, was on its final approach to Newark Airport when it clipped a street light on the busy New Jersey Turnpike, which runs alongside the airport perimeter, according to AirLive.
The jet should not have been flying that low over public infrastructure, and the incident has prompted urgent questions about the aircraft’s altitude in the final moments of its descent.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration have launched a swift investigation into why the aircraft was flying so low.
An NTSB lead investigator is scheduled to arrive in Newark on Monday, and officials have instructed United Airlines to preserve both the Cockpit Voice Recorder and the Flight Data Recorder for immediate examination.
A preliminary report outlining the initial findings and circumstances is expected within 30 days.
