United flight struck pole, not truck as it landed at Newark last month: NTSB
The National Transportation Safety Board has released preliminary findings into its probe of a scary incident at Newark International Airport last month determining that a United Airlines flight was just 15 feet above the New Jersey Turnpike when it hit a light pole and came close to a passing truck.
The NTSB said in its report the plane did not actually strike the truck but the light pole did.
The bakery truck was damaged in the incident and the driver was injured.
As United Flight 169 from Venice was preparing to land at Newark on May 3 around 2 p.m., the pilots had been given multiple runway changes in the minutes before the incident, according to the report.
The captain was manually flying the plane and was not using autopilot. Winds were gustier than normal at about 30 knots, according to the NTSB.
The pilots planned to land on runway 4R, then were switched to 22L, then finally to 29 where the incident occurred, the NTSB said.
On the final approach, the first officer told the captain on two occasions that he was slow and on the second call out, he also said he was low.
Corrections were made after the first call out, the plane was on speed, but moments later, the airspeed slowed, according to the report.
"Hey you are slow and a little low," the first officer said, according to the report.
The first officer looked outside seconds before touch down and recalled thinking they were too low but didn't process the information in time to call for a go-around, the NTSB said.
All three pilots in the cockpit said they felt a thump just before touchdown, the report said. The plane taxied to the gate and when the captain was doing his post-flight walk around he found the aircraft damaged.
Chuck Paterakis, vice president of transportation for Schmidt Bakery and owner of H&S Family of Bakeries, told ABC News in May that one of his employees, Warren Boardley, was delivering a load of bread product to the Newark depot, when something struck the vehicle.
Boardley got glass in his arm but did not suffer any life threatening injuries, according to Paterakis.
The 24-year-old Boeing 767 has not flown since this incident.
United said in a statement in May that the plane landed safely and taxied to the gate normally and there were no reported injuries among the crew or passengers.
The investigation is ongoing.
