United flight 169 strikes light pole at Newark Airport

A United Airlines plane struck a light pole while descending into newark airport on Sunday, May 3, then landed safely. United said the aircraft was flight 169 and that no passengers or crew were injured.

The flight landed around 1:50 pm after coming in from Venice, Italy. United said the plane taxied to the gate normally, while its maintenance team evaluates damage and investigators review how the contact with the pole occurred.

Patrick Oyulu footage

Patrick Oyulu captured footage of the plane descending over the New Jersey Turnpike and posted it at 1:55 pm. His caption read, "Right Now, right in front of us, @united coming in to land at @EWRairport so close to the NJ Turnpike Highway."

That video shows how close the aircraft was to the roadway as it approached Newark Liberty International Airport. The plane still completed the landing and reached the gate without injury to anyone on board.

United flight 169

United said in a statement that "Upon its final approach into Newark International Airport, United flight 169 came into contact with a light pole. The aircraft landed safely, taxied to the gate normally and no passengers or crew were injured. Our maintenance team is evaluating damage to the aircraft and we will investigate how this occurred."

The airline has now moved into two tracks: checking the aircraft for damage and reviewing the approach that led to the contact. For passengers, the immediate takeaway is that the flight ended safely, but the plane remains under evaluation after a ground-level strike during landing.