A bakery lorry driver has had a miraculous escape after a commercial passenger jet clipped his vehicle whilst he was driving along one of America's busiest motorways, in an incident that has since gone viral online, according to CBS News.
Warren Boardley Jr. was behind the wheel of a bakery delivery truck on the New Jersey Turnpike, a route he had driven five days a week for seven years, when a United Airlines Boeing 767 struck his vehicle as it came in low to land at Newark Liberty International Airport, as per the news report.
One of the aircraft's landing gear tyres tore through the truck's window and windshield, showering the cab with glass and causing injuries to Boardley Jr.'s arm and hand. Despite the violence of the impact, the driver survived and was able to call his father shortly afterwards.
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His father, Warren Boardley Sr, a respected member of Baltimore's boxing community and a Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, said his son rang him in a state of total shock. "He couldn't believe it. He called me and told me that a plane had hit him. I couldn't believe it," Boardley Sr said.
Boardley Sr. confirmed his son suffered pain throughout his body, including head and internal injuries. "Right now, we are blessed to have him. He's alive," he said. "The mental things he's going through, and the physical stuff, all of that should pass, the physical at least. The mental will stay with you a long time."
The father said the sheer nature of the accident left the family lost for words. "Out of all the things in the world, a plane? You can't prepare for that. You can prepare for another driver doing something, but a plane? That's unbelievable," Boardley Sr. said. "Nobody ever expects an airplane to drop out of the sky and hit a truck, especially with my child in it."
Boardley Jr. is now recovering at home and will not be returning to lorry driving. The National Transportation Safety Board launched a formal investigation, saying it would examine flight operations, weather conditions, human performance, crew resource management and air traffic control. United Airlines confirmed the aircraft landed safely and that no passengers or crew were injured.
