A Maryland bakery truck driver who came within inches of losing his life when a United Airlines Boeing 767 clipped his tractor-trailer during its approach to Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday says he believed he was about to be decapitated in the seconds before impact.
Warren Boardley Jr. was driving for Baltimore’s H&S Bakery along the New Jersey Turnpike when United Flight 169 descended too low and struck his truck with its landing gear. His father, Warren Boardley Sr., told reporters at a Tuesday press conference that his son “seen a flash and it made him duck and put up his hands.”
A landing gear tire from the aircraft went through the truck’s window and windshield. The impact sent the vehicle into a concrete barrier. The falling light pole, which the aircraft had also struck, then hit a Jeep travelling on the turnpike. Boardley was taken to hospital with minor injuries and was later released.
The family’s attorney, J. Wyndal Gordon, said Boardley Jr. is being evaluated for closed-head trauma and acute emotional distress. Boardley Sr. told reporters that a difference of just one mile per hour in the truck’s speed could have made the outcome fatal.
United Flight UA169, a Boeing 767, was travelling at 160 mph at the time of the collision. The aircraft was arriving from Venice, Italy, with 221 passengers and 10 crew members when it struck the light pole and the tractor-trailer on final approach to Runway 29. Despite the collision, the aircraft managed to land safely and taxi to the gate without any injuries among those on board.
Runway 29, the oldest and shortest at Newark Liberty International Airport, begins less than 400 feet from the edge of the busy New Jersey Turnpike. Former National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair and retired captain Robert Sumwalt described it as a “difficult approach,” noting that pilots must circle to align with the runway, which also lacks some of the guidance technology found on other runways at the airport.
The flight typically lands on a different runway but was directed to Runway 29 on Sunday due to windy conditions.
Both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the NTSB launched formal investigations into the incident. The NTSB ordered United Airlines to secure the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder before investigators arrived at Newark on Monday morning to interview the flight crew. The NTSB’s investigation will examine flight operations, meteorological conditions, human performance, crew resource management, aircraft performance, and air traffic control.
A preliminary report is expected within 30 days. United Airlines removed the pilots from active duty pending the outcome of the investigation.
Attorney Gordon said the family is gathering facts before deciding whether to pursue legal action. “Planes just don’t ordinarily and routinely hit 18-wheelers travelling along the New Jersey Turnpike,” Gordon said, adding that the family expects negligence was involved but will not file a lawsuit without sufficient evidence.
