United jet strikes truck while landing at Newark

A United Airlines flight arriving at Newark airport slammed into a delivery truck during landing Sunday, leaving the driver injured and exposing another near-runway safety scare at one of the nation’s busiest hubs.

Officials said the driver of a tractor trailer suffered minor injuries after a landing tire and the underside of the incoming Boeing 767 struck the vehicle. The plane had arrived from Venice, Italy, according to reports. Authorities also said the aircraft clipped a light pole, which then hit a Jeep, widening the chain of damage beyond the initial impact.

The truck driver escaped with minor injuries after the underside of the landing jet struck the tractor trailer, officials said.

New Jersey state police said the impact involved a landing tire and the underside of the aircraft, a detail that points to how low and close the jet was at the moment of contact. Officials have not publicly detailed how the truck came to be in the aircraft’s path, and reports indicate investigators will need to examine vehicle access, airport perimeter movement, and runway-area controls.

The incident rattles confidence because it unfolded at Newark, an airport already known for heavy traffic and tight operating margins. Even when injuries remain minor, a collision involving a landing wide-body jet and a ground vehicle demands scrutiny. The combination of an international arrival, a strike to a truck, and secondary damage to nearby infrastructure will likely draw attention from aviation and transportation authorities.

What happens next matters well beyond Newark. Investigators will work to reconstruct the landing, review airport ground operations, and determine whether the collision stemmed from human error, access failures, or a larger procedural gap. Their findings could shape how airports manage vehicle movement near active runways and how carriers and regulators respond when small lapses carry enormous risk.