United Airlines flight hits pole on highway before landing at Newark

By Angus Whitley

 

A United Airlines Holdings Inc. flight approaching Newark Liberty International Airport struck a light post on an adjacent highway before landing safely, the latest in a string of incidents that have put the spotlight on aviation safety in the US.

 

United Flight 169 from Venice, Italy, hit a pole on the New Jersey Turnpike around 2 p.m. local time Sunday before touching down, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident. 

 

None of the 221 passengers and 10 crew on board the Boeing Co. 767-400 was injured, United said. The crew has been taken off duty and maintenance staff are assessing damage to the aircraft. “We will conduct a rigorous flight safety investigation,” United said.

 

 

The incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of flight safety. In March, an Air Canada Express plane collided with a fire truck shortly after landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, killing the captain and co-pilot. That crash was the third major commercial aviation accident on US soil in just 15 months.

 

In Sunday’s incident involving the United flight, the light pole was damaged, and a tractor-trailer traveling south on the turnpike was also hit, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement. The driver of the vehicle was hospitalized with minor injuries and has since been discharged. 

 

Airport staff inspected the runway for debris and normal operations have resumed, the Port Authority said.

 

According to CBS News, a tire from the plane’s landing gear and the belly of the aircraft hit the pole and the tractor-trailer. The pole then struck a Jeep that was also on the road, CBS said, citing New Jersey State Police. 

 

The NTSB said in a separate statement that it has asked United for the plane’s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder. An investigator from the agency is due to arrive in Newark on Monday. 

 

A preliminary report outlining the facts and circumstances of the event is expected within 30 days.