United Pilot Given Chilling Warning Before Landing Collision

A United Airlines pilot who clipped a light pole that then crashed into a truck while landing in New Jersey was warned he was too low. In a new National Transportation Safety Board report released Thursday, investigators said that the pilot of the Boeing 767 arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport from Venice, Italy, only heard a thump and didn’t realize he’d hit the pole on the New Jersey Turnpike. The report, which does not assign blame, interviewed the captain of Flight 169, who said he had tackled wind and turbulence on landing. He heard the first officer say, “Hey, you are slow,” then, moments later, add, “You are still slow and a little low.” It also said, “He heard a thump.” The first officer said in the report: “I thought we were low.” The jet carrying 220 passengers and 11 crew collided with the 15-foot-tall light pole on May 3, sending it into the path of a bread delivery truck. The truck’s driver, Warren Boardley, suffered minor injuries, and no one on the plane was hurt, although it suffered “substantial” damage with three holes in the fuselage, one nearly four feet long. The truck had holes in the cab and trailer, but “There was no evidence of tire marks on either the tractor cab or trailer,” the report said.

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