Published On: May 4, 2026

Drivers on one of America’s busiest highways got far more than a low-flying plane overhead Sunday afternoon when a United Airlines international jet came in so low on approach to Newark Liberty International Airport that it struck roadside infrastructure — sending debris crashing into a delivery truck below. The aircraft involved was United Airlines Flight 169, a Boeing 767-400 arriving from Venice, Italy, with 221 passengers and 10 crew members onboard. At approximately 2 p.m. Eastern Time on May 3, the wide-body jet was descending toward Runway 29 at Newark when it clipped a tall light pole positioned above the southbound lanes of the New Jersey Turnpike. Dashcam footage from a Schmidt Bakery delivery truck captures the exact horrifying second:

the roar of engines overhead,
the plane appearing alarmingly close,
then sudden impact as the light pole bends and shattered debris blasts toward the truck cab. The driver-side window explodes, showering the bakery driver with broken glass. The driver suffered minor cuts and was briefly hospitalized, while the plane — astonishingly — continued the approach and landed safely at Newark with no injuries reported onboard.

How Rare Is This?

Commercial aircraft pass low over highways near airports all the time. Actually striking infrastructure above active traffic lanes is something else entirely. According to federal confirmation, the aircraft physically contacted the light pole during final descent, making this not just a “close-looking” video but a genuine aviation incident involving off-airport impact. Even more chilling — had the impact angle shifted slightly, the truck driver below could have suffered catastrophic injury rather than flying glass cuts.

FAA and United Investigation Now Underway

The Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed the strike and launched a formal investigation alongside the National Transportation Safety Board. United Airlines also released a statement acknowledging that Flight 169 made contact with a light pole during final approach. The airline says: the aircraft landed safely,
taxied normally to the gate, maintenance teams are assessing damage, and the cockpit crew has been removed from active service pending internal safety review. Early aviation discussion has pointed to gusty Newark wind conditions as one possible contributing factor, though no final cause has been established.

Newark is famous among pilots and aviation watchers for approaches that pass low over dense infrastructure, including warehouses, roads, and the New Jersey Turnpike. But “low” is still supposed to remain within highly calculated protected margins. This event suggests those margins were breached. What makes the footage so gripping is the dual perspective: to passengers, it was likely just a rough or unusual landing approach. To the truck driver below, it was an airborne object violent enough to explode a roadside pole over his windshield. Two completely different experiences — one shared incident. That contrast is why this story feels almost surreal.

The dashcam video has exploded across X, Instagram, Facebook, aviation forums, and U.S. news pages. Many viewers initially thought it was fake because the aircraft appears impossibly close to highway traffic. Once FAA confirmation emerged, reaction shifted from disbelief to stunned relief. Aviation enthusiasts began debating glide slope discipline and Newark’s difficult approaches, while ordinary viewers focused on the bakery driver’s luck in surviving a shower of debris from a descending transatlantic jet. The most common public response: “How did this not end much worse?”

Credits 

Dashcam footage courtesy of H&S Family of Bakeries / Schmidt Bakery, widely circulated via @rawsalerts
Official confirmation from FAA and United Airlines

United Airlines confirmed that Flight 169 came into contact with a light pole on final approach to Newark, landed safely, and that the crew has been removed from service pending a rigorous internal safety investigation. The FAA and NTSB are also investigating. This article is based on official FAA confirmation, United Airlines statements, dashcam footage, and verified reporting available as of May 4, 2026. Investigative conclusions regarding exact cause have not yet been released.

Would you still feel calm if you knew your plane clipped a pole seconds before landing?  Share your thoughts below👇