{"id":220435,"date":"2026-05-05T09:44:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T09:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/220435\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T09:44:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T09:44:02","slug":"newark-liberty-close-call-spurs-questions-over-safety-at-nyc-area-airports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/220435\/","title":{"rendered":"Newark Liberty close call spurs questions over safety at NYC area airports"},"content":{"rendered":"

A United Airlines jetliner landing Sunday afternoon at Newark Liberty International Airport struck a light pole<\/a> and a tractor trailer truck being driven on the New Jersey Turnpike hauling bakery goods, a terrifying crash captured on the driver\u2019s dashcam video.<\/p>\n

Newark is one of the airports nationwide with approaches over crowded traffic areas, requiring maneuvering near urban infrastructure close by.<\/p>\n

What are the chances a similar incident could happen again?<\/p>\n

Relatively low, but still higher than in a sparsely populated area where planes don\u2019t land in the vicinity of a metropolis or its crowded suburbs.<\/p>\n

What happened on Sunday?<\/p>\n

Both the plane, with about 230 people aboard, and the bakery\u2019s truck were damaged when the plane hit the tractor trailer, as well as a pole, causing it to tip over and strike a Jeep. United said the company is undertaking a “rigorous safety inspection” over what happened.<\/p>\n

\"visualization\"\/What\u2019s the latest in the investigation?<\/p>\n

The National Transportation Safety Board<\/a>, which is investigating the case, has classified the incident as an accident that is being probed by agency staff. Investigators will examine “multiple factors, including flight operations, meteorological conditions, human performance, crew resource management, aircraft performance and air traffic control.”<\/p>\n

What are the chances of a similar incident?<\/p>\n

Typically airports have “pretty big buffer” zones between the landing zone and the airport boundary fence, said George Hodyno, a retired airline pilot who was born and raised in Elmont.<\/p>\n

“However, airports in densely populated areas have reduced overruns,” Hodyno said, adding: “the margin for error in airports like these is reduced. Fly an approach too low or a sudden wind shear could make the approach a little dicey.”<\/p>\n

What about local area airports?<\/p>\n

Even as the chances of a crash between a landing plane and an object below are low, LaGuardia and Republic airports have\u00a0the most comparative vulnerability in the region.<\/p>\n

“MacArthur and Kennedy are not that bad,” said Michael Canders, an aviation safety subject expert and former military pilot with almost 50 years of piloting experience<\/p>\n

LaGuardia Airport.<\/p>\n

Canders noted the Grand Central Parkway\u2019s proximity to the airport and is “close to roadways.” The parkway carries hundreds of thousands of vehicles each day, with airplanes flying overhead.<\/p>\n

\"mapKennedy Airport<\/p>\n

Rockaway Boulevard, an exterior road in some of the southmost parts of Queens and New York City, is close to Runways 22R and 22L, planes are visible from the roadway. The road is perpendicular to the runways. Canders said that Kennedy is not as vulnerable as some other area airports.<\/p>\n

Still, said Hodyno, that\u2019s “pretty darn close to the road.”<\/p>\n

\"mapRepublic Airport<\/p>\n

Among Long Island airports, Republic is among the closest to traffic<\/a> and the built-up environment of Long Island. Canders said there are close roadways, including Route 109, with some proximity to the Southern State Parkway.<\/p>\n

“Typically airports are built, and then there\u2019s an encroachment of property, there\u2019s an encroachment of development, that may be close to where the aircraft land, and so it is riskier, if you will, typically not of concern to travelers, but not a bad idea to get in the habit of knowing to look out of the car, always.”<\/p>\n

\"mapLong Island MacArthur Airport<\/p>\n

Canders, examining the map, pointed out that MacArthur is close to New York 454, a key thoroughfare in Suffolk County, along with adjacent roads in proximity to the airport.<\/p>\n

The terrain is relatively flat near MacArthur, said Janie Daly, the director of Farmingdale State College\u2019s aviation center.<\/p>\n

Compared with Newark, she said, “MacArthur really does not have the same overpasses or roadways that are elevated right up against the approach end of the runways.”<\/p>\n

\"map\"Matthew<\/p>\n

\n\tMatthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A United Airlines jetliner landing Sunday afternoon at Newark Liberty International Airport struck a light pole and a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135,608],"class_list":["post-220435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news","tag-transportation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}