United flight clips NJ Turnpike light pole while landing at Newark

A United Airlines plane struck a light pole on the New Jersey Turnpike while on final approach to a runway at Newark Liberty Airport on Sunday, May 3, causing damage to a tractor-trailer truck on the highway and injuring its driver.

United Flight 169 from Venice, Italy, went on to land safely, "without incident," on Runway 29, said officials at the airline and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.

"The aircraft landed safely, taxied to the gate normally and no passengers or crew were injured," United Airlines said. "Our maintenance team is evaluating damage to the aircraft. We will conduct a rigorous flight safety investigation into the incident and our crew has been removed from service as part of the process."

United described the aircraft as a Boeing 767-400, with 221 passengers and 10 crew members aboard.

The incident occurred at about 2 p.m., when the aircraft struck a light pole while passing over southbound lanes of the turnpike. The tractor-trailer that was damaged was on the southbound side.

Port Authority police and New Jersey State Police responded to the turnpike. The tractor-trailer driver was taken to an area hospital with minor injuries and later released, the Port Authority said in an email response to inquiries from NorthJersey.com.

Minor damage to the aircraft was observed, the Port Authority said, adding, "Airport staff inspected the runway for debris and normal operations were quickly resumed."

Gov. Mikie Sherrill posted on X that she had been briefed on the incident. "I’m grateful the aircraft landed safely, and all passengers and crew are unharmed," she posted.