Pictures of the damage on the aircraft and the truck in the UA 169 vs truck incident.

[-]

FORDxGT@reddit

Right through a butt splice, that’s going to be an extensive repair.

[-]

Punkrawk78@reddit

Can’t just use crack filler?

I’ll see myself out.

[-]

russbroom@reddit

There’s a theory that the aircraft may have been below the glide slope 😉

[-]

leonworth@reddit

Glide path not glide slope. And yes there is a major difference between the 2.

[-]

Guadalajara3@reddit

Only a theory, given runway 29 doesn't have a glideslope

[-]

JaggedMetalOs@reddit

Everybody saw the dash cam from the truck and were convinced that the plane wheels must've hit the truck but from the image of the truck's damage, it doesn't seem the plane's wheel touch the truck.

I guess the dashcam getting knocked off its mount made the accident look a lot more dramatic.

[-]

CardinalOfNYC@reddit

yes the dashcam being knocked over made it look worse.

What's more concerning is people ignoring and deliberately sidelining with downvotes all the folks who tried to explain what was really going on. Reddit is honestly dangerous when you think how easily people can marginalize facts in favor of narrative.

[-]

Zovort@reddit

Reddit motto: Vote for the truth you want.

[-]

CardinalOfNYC@reddit

Every year since I read Federalist 10 in college, almost 20 years ago now, the founding fathers' deep distrust of majority/mob rule has only felt more and more prescient

[-]

doyouevenglass@reddit

I should add that to my reading list

[-]

CardinalOfNYC@reddit

It's very short, you could read it right now

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed10.asp

[-]

PointOfFingers@reddit

A plane passed inches overhead and a concrete powerpole tried to Final Destination through his windscreen. It was pretty dramatic.

[-]

ChartreuseBison@reddit

I'm sure the dudes pants are a total loss

[-]

JaggedMetalOs@reddit

A plane's landing gear smashing into a truck and knocking it on its side would be even more dramatic though!

[-]

GloryGreatestCountry@reddit

It'd probably be disastrous for both the plane's crew and pax and the truck driver, though.

[-]

pup5581@reddit

I mean....4-9 ft lower and this results in death so..it's a big deal still

[-]

PolarAES@reddit

[-]

Zharick_@reddit

Look at the red car below the tail of the plane. That seems to be where the shadow of the plane is. It's confusing perspective.

[-]

oh-pointy-bird@reddit

It really does look like a wheel grazed that trailer.

[-]

CardinalOfNYC@reddit

Its an optical illusion. And it's kinda sad just how many people weren't just fooled but actively attacked people who tried to say it was an optical illusion.

[-]

LisaLoebSlaps@reddit

The perspective might make it look like that, but the plane is in front of the truck in this picture. If you took a picture from the opposite side, you would see a gap between the truck and the plane.

[-]

PoppedCork@reddit

Based on the dash cam footage I thought the landing wheels had knocked the truck over on its side

[-]

12172031@reddit (OP)

I though the wheels had knock off the a portion of the trailer roof or crushed the cab. If the plane didn't touch the truck at all then it explain how the crew didn't feel the contact and only discovered that they had a close call when they saw a gash in the body after the plane landed.

[-]

GravitasFailures@reddit

Exactly, I am less surprised at the pilots now, though still surprised given, you know *waves hand vaguely at everything

[-]

doyouevenglass@reddit

I mean ok you didn't feel hitting a semi, fine, but wouldn't the papi indicate it's time for go around or something? it's wild to imagine there wouldn't be a clear too low indication on approach especially for THAT approach but I'm just a layman

[-]

MDlynette@reddit

Ha! Great visual.

[-]

cheetuzz@reddit

i’m still confused which light pole the plane hit. Was the light pole to the left/port side of the truck? Then the pole fell across the road, and the truck’s windshield just happened to hit the light pole as it was still falling?

dashcam video for reference. I don’t see anything on the forward facing dashcam video.

https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/s/whTtGlQ3ru

[-]

Avi8tor_Zeus@reddit

The only people that felt it were probably those sitting mid-airplane by the gear. There still a lot of mass involved even with near empty tanks - don’t forget the safety department designs light poles up to easily get knocked over when hit by a car or truck to lessen the impact damage to the vehicle than say a tree.

I thought that too initially watch the same video thinking it was fake.

[-]

CardinalOfNYC@reddit

I don't understand why everyone thought that. Semi trucks have a cab and a trailer, the wheels hit the cab, not the trailer.

[-]

JaaacckONeill@reddit

There's some kind of spray bottle on the video that you can see never gets knocked over. This is what made me think the light pole hit the windshield, knocking off the dash cam.

I do, however, wonder if the plane's tire left a skid mark on top of the trailer... it was so close!

[-]

CupTheLeftNut@reddit

Yeah I assumed it had just clipped the top of the trailer too

[-]

icaruza@reddit

Did the plane hit the truck, or did the plane hit the pole which then hit the truck?

[-]

PointOfFingers@reddit

The pole hit the plane, then the truck, then the railing. I think they should do a DUI test on that pole.

[-]

holein3@reddit

Hey, let's not blame the pole. It got hit by the plane!

[-]

kaaskugg@reddit

Poles always getting the short stick. :/

[-]

shankillfalls@reddit

Those Warsaw guys love a drink.

[-]

TheGeneralCat@reddit

Plane hit the pole then the pole hit the truck. The dashcam footage and photos of surrounding cameras is insane

[-]

rufus102@reddit

how is this bullshit upvoted?

the plane's wheel hit the truck. there is a picture of it from airfield security camera

[-]

thisisinput@reddit

Because it didn't. They got close, but the truck damage is solely from the light pole.

[-]

GuppyDriver737@reddit

This is AI

[-]

thisisinput@reddit

What makes you say that?

[-]

GuppyDriver737@reddit

Well I guess I can’t officially say, but no legit news network is using this photo and I ran this picture through different AI platforms and they all say this is an altered photo

[-]

DCUStriker9@reddit

Three things were in close proximity at the same time: truck, light pole, and 767.

The picture very clearly shows the impact point of the light pole on the truck.

The 767 was moving at roughly 150 mph, video shows the truck slamming on his brakes as the airplane lands. IF the 767 hit the truck the truck would have flipped, and likely pitched the airplane into the ground.

The security picture shows a very close encounter between the main landing gear and the truck. The only possibility of contact is if the wheels just brushed the truck. Still highly likely that contact would have put the truck on it's side.

[-]

Qel_Hoth@reddit

IF the 767 hit the truck the truck would have flipped, and likely pitched the airplane into the ground.

Depends what part of the truck it hit. If it's just the top of the trailer, those things are made of plywood, duct tape, and prayers. It could easily have just blown the trailer apart and the plane still wouldn't have noticed anything.

[-]

MonsieurLartiste@reddit

I think that’s the most likely.

The mass of the truck would have altered the plane’s descent.

A light pole just got whacked on the road in this poor chap’s face.

[-]

DraveDakyne@reddit

The light pole destruction was a controlled demolition. The truck driver was planted with a rigged windshield so the damage and dash cam footage would help sell us on the story that the plane hit it. My guess is the driver was either in on it or will conveniently disappear in the coming days. Wake up sheeple. What was in that light pole that they don't want us to know about?!?!

[-]

AlphawolfAJ@reddit

Source?

[-]

_fuzzybuddy@reddit

This was posted in here on another post, it’s very hard to tell from this image though but I can see why people think it did

[-]

Hot_Net_4845@reddit

I feel like the wheel would cause a bit more damage than just smashing the windshield. Plus in the CCTV image it looks like it's slightly above the trailer of the truck

[-]

Squawk1000@reddit

Things aligned in such a way that only the windshield was struck. I don't know if the truck driver got lucky or unlucky here: 100 ms earlier and he would have missed, 100 ms later and the wheel would have hit him square in the head.

[-]

chaosattractor@reddit

It's incredible how y'all can see extremely clear photo evidence that the wheels of the plane did not hit the truck but you're so invested in the narrative that's been brewing over the past day that you can't actually see it.

[-]

Squawk1000@reddit

It's pretty clear to me from the CCTV picture that they did. Moreover, if it hadn't been for the small left bank, the right bogey would have sliced right through the truck, too.

[-]

Content_Valuable_428@reddit

You saw the video from inside the truck and also the cctv photo and your conclusion is that the aircraft and truck did not make contact? Bruh 😂

[-]

Trivialpiper@reddit

Calm down, rufus.

[-]

LisaLoebSlaps@reddit

rufus don't know the truefus

[-]

ECircus@reddit

There's no way the the wheel hit the truck.

[-]

Skoople@reddit

You're either jumping to conclusions or seeing what you want to see in that picture.

[-]

qalpi@reddit

I think the picture you're talking about is probably a confusing perspective. I don't think the wheels actually made contact with the truck itself

[-]

the-channigan@reddit

United’s insurer’s spokesperson here. Are we sure the truck didn’t the hit the plane, or hit the pole up into the plane?

[-]

MetaCalm@reddit

How long will the pilots be grounded for at minimum?

[-]

SackOfCats@reddit

They will most likely ASAP it, get retrained and go back to flying unless there was an intentional disregard of policy and procedure.

Or illegal activity as well I guess, but I'm not sure how that would come into play here.

There can always be more to this though. If United thinks either pilot is completely hamfisted jackass that has no redeeming qualities, they can expect a very difficult retaining process that will be impossible to overcome.

[-]

rob_s_458@reddit

From the blancolirio video, the ADS-B data shows the rate of descent dropped to 100 fpm and then increased to over 1000. Raises questions, is the data accurate, did they realize they leveled off and nose it over to get back on track, did they exceed 1000 fpm long enough to realize it and still continue the approach? It's possible the answer is yes to all 3 which would make it an unstablized approach. But even then you're probably right that it'll be retraining unless they already have a history of jackassery

[-]

cosmicrae@reddit

It will be interesting to read the report, where it tells us how many hours on this type each one had previously flown.

[-]

coosacat@reddit

I'm impressed by the safety glass holding that windshield together so well. And, hats off to the truck driver who kept his shit together enough to not cause an even worse auto accident.

[-]

Boundish91@reddit

This was so close to becoming a catastrophe. Only 1m lower could have had a vastly different outcome.

[-]

IllAlwaysBeAKnickFan@reddit

Insane. 1m difference and 200+ lives are gone. What the f.

[-]

Rude-Dentist-2493@reddit

It's wild how much the dashcam shake made everyone jump to conclusions, but those damage pics really do back up the light pole theory. Classic case of a dramatic camera angle making things look way worse than they actually were.

[-]

cheetuzz@reddit

Someone commented that the spray bottle in the floor of the cab didn’t tip over, showing that the cab didn’t flip.

https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/s/HfSgUEwovU

[-]

CardinalOfNYC@reddit

What it's a classic case of is people being fooled and then doubling down when their narrative is challenged.

Yesterday, I watched as almost everyone who tried to say what really happened was downvoted or attacked, simply because what really happened wasn't what people wanted to have happened.

[-]

HelloSlowly@reddit

My guy. There’s literally an image still confirming that the left MLG bogie clipped the top of the semi. It’s even pasted here in the comments

[-]

Decent-Thought3339@reddit

So Gemini has said that the pilot is possibly Paul from the mylayover life YouTube channel. 85% possibility based on voice matching the ATC communications against his videos.

[-]

27803@reddit

I bet that driver was happy he had a dash cam otherwise no one would have believed what happened

[-]

12cookdale@reddit

Can we have a moment of silence for that light pole? Smashed by a 767 and THEN hit by a truck ...

[-]

nl_Kapparrian@reddit

So the plane knocked the pole over and the truck hit the pole? That's what I inferred from the pictures.

[-]

deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

[-]

AutoModerator@reddit

Your post/comment has been automatically removed due to Low Effort. I am an automated system.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[-]

ttystikk@reddit

Damn. Inches from death. In soooooo many ways!

[-]

CardinalOfNYC@reddit

I got so many downvotes and so much shit for telling people that the photo that appeared to show the wheels touching the truck was an optical illusion.

Yeah, it was an optical illusion.

Yet more people told me the dash cam video was absolute proof the full wheel assembly touched the truck.

It didn't.

[-]

HelloSlowly@reddit

The stadium visual is challenging because landing on the 29 is short. If you’re on a heavy it’s not uncommon for a pilot to come on the radio and do a courtesy call about hard braking on touchdown.

Twice had it on my BA flight there. So it’s key for a heavy to land well within near the aiming markers.

Nevertheless you’d be well clear of any obstacles. So the UA pilot must have been well under the profile

[-]

mattrussell2319@reddit

Someone pointed out that you’d have 4 reds on the PAPI if you were this far below the glideslope

[-]

Substantial-Good1174@reddit

Unfortunately, there is no ILS to 29. Back in the day, we hand flew the stadium visual. Now, we let the autopilot fly the RNAV and then click it off once we are lined up with the runway. Not nearly as fun, but definitely helps with more stable approaches.

[-]

erin46692@reddit

You can have PAPIs without their being an ILS approach. Looking at the approach plate, there are PAPIs to both 11 and 29 (and 22/4 L/R too).

[-]

Substantial-Good1174@reddit

I was replying to the person who referenced the “glideslope”, which 29 does not have because it does not have an ILS approach. Even on visual approaches, we usually back it up with an instrument approach, preferably an ILS for that exact reason. You are correct, there is a PAPI.

[-]

mattrussell2319@reddit

Thanks for the correction. Do you think they would have seen 4 reds PAPI lights, or is it too early to make that estimation?

[-]

Substantial-Good1174@reddit

If you are about to hit a light pole, you’re definitely seeing 4 reds.

[-]

pborget@reddit

Not in this large of an airplane.

[-]

Inner-Thought9665@reddit

Stadium? You mean Sports Illustrated Stadium? Home of Red Bulls?

[-]

srv340mike@reddit

It's named after old Stadium because the approach begins where MetLife is at the Meadowlands

[-]

aveey@reddit

What kind of compensation is that driver getting?

[-]

Yams-502@reddit

Holy fuck, that truck driver got extremely lucky (and unlucky)

[-]

AdultContemporaneous@reddit

Dude needs to but a lotto ticket

[-]

oh-pointy-bird@reddit

That’s going to need stitches.

[-]

International-Pie262@reddit

I honestly thought the Tire had touched the track trailer, but that's odd if the light pole just cracked the windshield.

[-]

collegefootballfan69@reddit

I believe PIC was Wei To Lo

[-]

hesdeadjim1434@reddit

United Airlines Pilot after 705 alarms are going off in his cockpit and he just felt a thump about mid undercarriage.

[-]

Flashpiont412@reddit

Well at least two Spirit guys can find jobs right now

[-]

MeDonGustavo@reddit

Sick, just sick! And pure luck for the driver, my dear.

[-]

TheVoicesSpeakToMe@reddit

In all the pictures of the truck Ive seen so far it seems like the camera focused on the hood of the truck and not the actual damage. Not important at all, but it drives me up a wall seeing blurry post accident photos in 2020.

[-]

russbroom@reddit

I feel like that blurry picture was almost certainly taken by a reasonably shaken up driver.
Just a hunch, mind.

[-]

eSnowLeopard@reddit

I was wondering where the photos and videos of a destroyed truck were. It seemed weird there was nothing circulating other than the dashcam video. If there was a seriously messed up truck I figured some witnesses would take pictures and it would spread quickly. This makes a lot more sense now why none of those pictures exist lol

[-]

normaal_volk@reddit

That’s wild. How common are these low approach “love taps?”

[-]

12172031@reddit (OP)

Something like this is a major incident and would make the news so I don't think it's that common.

[-]

NewUser769283@reddit

I actually think this will be an accident, per definition.

[-]

Hot_Net_4845@reddit

The NTSB has classified it as an accident based on the damage to the aircraft

https://xcancel.com/NTSB_Newsroom/status/2051361140207181852

[-]

NewUser769283@reddit

That was what I thought.

[-]

PotatoFeeder@reddit

Even those short island runways dont actually have anything hit

[-]

Remarkable-Flight990@reddit

First time if have ever seen something like this (aviation nerd for 50+ years), this was very close to a tragedy

[-]

Ok-Mathematician5970@reddit

Beyond a near-miss. It’s amazing everyone survived.

[-]

BrewCityChaserV2@reddit

About as common as you see these 'love tap' videos (which is once, ever).

[-]

BrewCityChaserV2@reddit

Much less common than randos on the internet suggesting that they could, in fact, actually be common.

[-]

Painboi@reddit

The plane wheel they believe hit the windshield of the semi truck and the plane also struck a light pole that damaged another vehicle (The pole then struck a Jeep also traveling on the turnpike…It's still not clear if it was the light pole or the actual tire from the plane that struck the semi truck…I believe it was the light pole

[-]

mencival@reddit

Seeing the footage from inside the truck, I thought the truck flipped or smt similar

[-]

Remarkable-Flight990@reddit

Those main landing gear bogeys and tired are tough!

[-]

railker@reddit

I mean yeah, we seen them stand up to crashes and being one of the pieces left intact (tires still on and all, 13,000' down under the ocean in the case of AF447, also among the biggest pieces recovered intact from Swissair 111). The fuselage is the soft part, thin aluminum attached to a metal frame.

[-]

Altruistic-Tailor-13@reddit

Makes sense considering the WoW, impact upon arrival, etc.

[-]

post-explainer@reddit

Please provide a source by replying to the message that was sent to you. Failure to respond to that message will result in the automatic removal of this post. Please feel free to reach out to the mod team through modmail if you have any questions or concerns.

r/Aviation is trialing new measures to prevent karma farming. Please feel free to provide feedback through modmail. Thank you for participating in the community!

[-]

12172031@reddit (OP)

Pictures are from this news story from NBC New York.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/new-jersey/video-united-plane-hits-truck-nj-turnpike-light-pole/6497837/

[-]

ValhallaAir@reddit

Idk why they took it down

[-]

12172031@reddit (OP)

Apparently there was a private message I was supposed to reply to with the source and not this post.

[-]

ebs757@reddit

Finally