H&S Bakery truck driver seeks answers after viral plane crash

Warren Boardley Jr. sat behind the wheel of a semitruck, steering his way from Baltimore to a Schmidt Baking Co. depot in Newark on Sunday. He knew the route well. The 39-year-old had been driving it five days a week for seven years. It was just another day.

Or that was what he thought as he checked the rearview mirror. Then, just as he was looking back to the road, the landing tire of a United Airlines flight came crashing through his truck’s cabin, shattering the windows.

Now, after having suffered blunt force trauma to his head and other injuries, Boardley is seeking answers about what went so horribly wrong, his attorney J. Wyndal Gordon said.

“I don’t know what the future holds in terms of litigation,” Gordon said. “We’re just trying to figure out what’s going on.”

Gordon, working on behalf of Boardley, has sent public information requests to the National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, asking that they share all evidence and investigatory findings related to the crash.

He said he also sent a letter to United Airlines demanding that they meet with his client. United Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shortly after launching an investigation, the NTSB classified the crash as an “accident” in a post on X. What caused the plane that was landing at Newark Liberty International Airport to strike the truck and a light pole — whether an air controller mishap, mechanical malfunction, pilot error or interfering weather conditions — remains unclear.

Gordon and his client are “not making any monetary demands at this time” because they do not know the full extent of Boardley’s injuries, he said, adding that the blunt force trauma to his head is consistent with a concussion and various other injuries.

“United might be interested in some arbitration,” Gordon said, “so litigation is not the first instinct. It’s the last thing to do when everything fails.”

H&S Bakery and Bakery Express, the companies Boardley was driving for, had not been in touch with Gordon as of Wednesday afternoon.

A representative for H&S Bakery declined to comment.

As Gordon awaits answers, he said his focus is on ensuring that Boardley, who is “very distraught,” makes a full recovery from the trauma he experienced.