One injured after plane hits truck while landing in Newark

A low-altitude collision between an incoming commercial airliner and a ground vehicle left one person with minor injuries at one of the busiest airports on the U.S. East Coast over the weekend, but all passengers and crew escaped without harm. On Sunday, a Boeing 767 operated by United Airlines, which was completing an international journey from Venice, Italy to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, collided with a streetlight pole and a nearby pickup truck as it approached for landing. While the aircraft sustained visible damage from the collision, its flight crew successfully guided the plane to a safe landing, bringing all 231 passengers and crew members on board to the gate without a single injury report. The truck’s driver, however, did not leave the incident unhurt. According to the driver’s employer, speaking to CBS News – U.S. news partner of the BBC – one of the plane’s tires crashed through the truck’s side window and front windscreen in the collision. Dash camera footage captured from inside the truck records the moment of impact: the audio picks up the roar of the low-flying jet seconds before impact, and footage shows shattered glass spraying through the vehicle’s cabin after the collision. The driver received medical treatment for minor lacerations to the arm and hand caused by flying broken glass. In an official statement released after the incident, United Airlines confirmed the details of the collision and outlined next steps. The carrier said it will launch a comprehensive, rigorous investigation into the flight safety incident, and as a standard procedural step for ongoing investigations, the flight crew operating the trip has been temporarily removed from active service. The airline also added that its in-house maintenance engineering team is currently conducting a full assessment of the damage sustained by the aircraft during the collision. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill released a statement reacting to the incident, saying she was deeply grateful that the aircraft was able to land without catastrophic incident, and that all people on board the plane emerged unharmed. U.S. federal aviation investigators have already launched a formal probe into the event. The National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. government agency responsible for investigating civil aviation accidents, confirmed that it has dispatched a lead investigator to the scene to examine evidence and interview relevant parties. The agency has also formally ordered United Airlines to turn over the plane’s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, two critical pieces of evidence that will help investigators piece together what caused the aircraft to strike the truck and pole during approach. As of the latest updates, no further details on the timeline of the investigation or potential contributing factors have been released to the public.