Thirteen people were hospitalized on Monday morning after an employee shuttle bus crashed into a concrete wall at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). CBS News reports that the accident happened shortly after 3:00 AM on August 31 on the Departures Level 3 roadway outside Terminal B, with local reports saying the bus jumped a curb before striking the barrier. Three people were seriously injured and another 10 sustained minor injuries, although none of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening.

The collision temporarily closed the upper-level roadway and forced passengers departing from Terminal B to use Level 2 instead, causing minor delays to some flights. Newark is one of the most important airports in United Airlines‘ network, and has recently undergone a notable operational turnaround after years of congestion and disruption. Monday’s crash adds to an eventful year for aviation safety in the New York region, at a major airport undergoing significant expansion.

An Employee Shuttle Bus Hit A Concrete Wall At Terminal B

Credit: NTSB

The employee bus was traveling on Terminal B’s Departures Level 3 roadway when it apparently missed an exit, jumped a curb, and struck the concrete structure. NBC New York footage from the scene showed the windshield destroyed, and substantial damage concentrated around the front-right side of the vehicle, while ABC7 New York reported that the passenger door was mangled and the front wheel well was heavily damaged. Port Authority Police and emergency medical personnel responded, and all 13 injured occupants were transported to local hospitals for treatment.

The extent of the injuries initially varied between reports. The Port Authority said all 13 hospitalized people had non-life-threatening injuries, while News 12 New Jersey subsequently reported that three had suffered serious injuries and the remaining ten were minor; critically, none were considered severe. Authorities have not said what caused the driver to lose control, and the investigation remained ongoing as of Monday afternoon.

Airport access rather than flight operations took the brunt of the disruption. Officials closed Departures Level 3 while the damaged bus and debris were removed, and temporarily redirected departing Terminal B passengers to the lower level. News 12 reported that the bus was towed away shortly before 8:00 AM and that the roadway reopened later in the morning. Importantly for passengers traveling in the morning rush, the incident only resulted in a handful of minor flight delays as new crew were assigned to aircraft.

Echoes Of A Similar Incident In 2019

Credit: United Airlines

Remarkably, Monday’s accident has several striking similarities to another crash at Newark just over seven years ago. On May 3, 2019, an employee shuttle bus was heading toward Terminal B’s Level 2 roadway at around 5:30 AM when it hit a concrete divider. ABC7 reported that 17 people were injured, while contemporary Port Authority information described more than a dozen non-life-threatening injuries. The bus suffered major front-end damage and the accident closed part of the terminal access roadway.

There is no evidence at this stage that the two crashes shared a common cause, and Monday’s investigation is still at an early stage. Nevertheless, the parallels are unusual: both involved employee shuttle buses, both happened before dawn, both were operating at Terminal B on its multilevel access-road system, and both ended with the vehicle hitting a concrete divider or wall and sending more than a dozen people for medical treatment.

The operational consequences were similar as well. Following the 2019 crash, Terminal B Level 2 was closed and vehicles were redirected to Levels 1 and 3, producing a traffic backup approaching a mile long. Monday effectively reversed that arrangement, with Level 3 closed, and Terminal B departures temporarily sent down to Level 2, again without significantly interrupting aircraft operations. The ability to keep flights moving despite problems elsewhere on the airport campus has become particularly significant at Newark following United’s efforts to improve the reliability of its largest East Coast hub.

Several Serious Ground Accidents Have Occurred In Recent Months

Credit: NTSB

Monday’s bus crash did not involve an aircraft, but it highlights the risks created by the constant movement of aircraft, vehicles and workers around major airports. Several serious ground accidents have occurred in recent years, including collisions involving tugs, firefighting vehicles and other airport traffic.

The most serious US example came at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) on March 22 this year, when an Air Canada CRJ900 collided with an airport fire truck while landing. Both pilots were killed, while 39 passengers, crew and firefighters were taken to hospitals, including six with serious injuries.

Another serious incident occurred at Lima’s Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM) in November 2022, when a LATAMAirbus A320neo accelerating for takeoff collided with an airport fire truck that had entered the runway during an emergency-response exercise. Two firefighters died at the scene and a third later died from his injuries. A similarly unusual accident occurred in Conakry two months earlier, when a TAP Air Portugal A320neo landing at night struck a motorcycle carrying two airport security workers across the runway, killing both.

Other accidents have occurred during more routine ramp movements. A towed American Airlines A321 collided with a passenger shuttle bus at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in 2023, injuring five people, while an Air Wisconsin CRJ200 struck a tug at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) in February 2025 and seriously injured its driver. Most recently, a ground worker died after being struck during the pushback of a French bee Airbus A350 at Montréal-Trudeau on August 24, with Canada’s Transportation Safety Board now investigating. Those incidents provide a closer parallel to Monday’s Newark crash than in-flight accidents, highlighting the hazards created when aircraft, buses, tugs and other vehicles share the confined operating areas of major airports.