A United Airlines Boeing 767-400ER struck a New Jersey Turnpike light pole and the trailer of a bakery delivery truck with its landing gear and underbelly on Sunday afternoon, moments before touching down on Newark Liberty International Airport’s runway 29.
The aircraft, registration N77066, was operating flight UA-169 from Venice, Italy, with 218 passengers and 13 crew on board. It landed safely after the impact and taxied to the apron under routine communication, according to The Aviation Herald.
None of the people aboard the aircraft were injured. The truck driver suffered minor injuries. Both the aircraft and the truck sustained substantial damage, and the 767 was left with a hole in its side.
What investigators know so far
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board confirmed it is investigating and has directed United to secure the cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders from the aircraft, FlightGlobal reported. The Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft “struck a pole on the New Jersey Turnpike, Newark, NJ,” and noted one minor injury on the ground.
LiveATC recordings indicate the crew told tower they were flying the area-navigation approach to runway 29. Tower cleared the flight to land in winds of 15 knots from 300 degrees, gusting to 31 knots. Newark’s 18:51 UTC METAR recorded similar conditions: winds from 300 degrees at 20 knots, gusting to 36.
The aircraft contacted the light pole and the truck while crossing Interstate 95 about 220 meters — roughly 720 feet — short of the runway 29 threshold. After landing, the crew told controllers they had felt something near the threshold and had discovered a hole in the fuselage.
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill said all passengers and crew were unharmed and that initial reports indicated a truck “may also have been involved.” Dash-cam video released by H&S Bakery, the operator of the delivery truck, has circulated widely on social media.
A short runway and an unforgiving final
Runway 29 at Newark is 6,726 feet long — among the shorter primary runways at a major U.S. hub — and has no instrument landing system (ILS). Aircraft arriving on 29 typically fly one of two procedures. The RNAV W approach provides a predictable vertical path. The Stadium visual approach is a hand-flown circling procedure that requires a sharp banking right turn onto final at low altitude.
FAA approach charts indicate the RNAV Y approach involves a left turn at 2,500 feet between the GIMEE waypoint and the JIMLO final approach fix. A descending right turn then aligns the aircraft with the 288-degree runway heading. That track passes over Interstate 95 roughly 200 meters from the threshold — the same stretch where the 767’s landing gear made contact with the light pole and truck.
The runway is equipped with a precision approach path indicator, or PAPI, providing visual glideslope guidance to pilots on short final.
Renewed scrutiny of the Newark 767 light pole strike and runway 29 approaches
The incident has reignited longstanding debate among pilots about the difficulty of the runway 29 approaches. The procedures route arriving traffic over a heavily trafficked interstate and a dense industrial corridor, with little vertical margin during the circling segment. In the hours after the occurrence, online aviation forums focused on three questions. Did the crew misjudge altitude during the visual portion of the approach? Did gusty conditions complicate the late-final descent? And did the urge to touch down early on a short runway encourage a shallower-than-published path?
The cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders, once read out by the NTSB, are expected to clarify the aircraft’s altitude and configuration as it crossed the Turnpike. The agency typically issues a preliminary report within 30 days.
FODNews has previously covered other recent U.S. ground and approach safety events, including a 737 MAX bird strike that filled a cabin with smoke at Laredo and the FAA’s expanded anti-drone laser authority along the southern border.
Sources
- The Aviation Herald — United B764 at Newark, May 3 2026
- FlightGlobal — United 767-400ER hits light pole on approach to Newark
- National Transportation Safety Board
- Federal Aviation Administration
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