The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating after a United Airlines plane struck a light pole and a tractor-trailer on the New Jersey Turnpike just moments before landing at Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday.
According to ABC News, the truck driver avoided serious injury but was taken to the hospital after suffering cuts from broken glass to his arm and forearm.
The plane, which was arriving from Italy, sustained only minor damage and landed safely before taxiing to the gate. No injuries were reported among the 221 passengers and 10 crew members on board.
"Our maintenance team is evaluating damage to the aircraft and we will investigate how this occurred," United Airlines confirmed in a statement. "We will conduct a rigorous flight safety investigation into the incident and our crew has been removed from service as part of the process."
The truck involved in the incident belonged to Baker's Express and was in the process of delivering bread products to a Newark airport depot.
"The driver experienced a commercial plane's tires landing on the tractor or brushing the top of the tractor," Chuck Paterakis, vice president of transportation for Schmidt Bakery and owner of H&S Family of Bakeries, told ABC News.
"Everybody, the driver and everybody on the plane, should be very fortunate," added Paterakis. "Because it could have been the opposite of what happened, and a little help from God went a long way tonight for everybody on the plane, and including the driver."
Sunday's incident comes in the wake of a deadly collision involving an Air Canada jet and a fire truck at nearby LaGuardia Airport in March and several scary near-miss incidents at airports across the nation, including Newark.
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