A Royal Jordanian crew member was killed and roughly 20 others were injured late Monday when a chartered shuttle carrying 15 airline employees from John F. Kennedy International Airport flipped on the Long Island Expressway in Queens. The crew had just stepped off Flight RJ8261 from Amman and were on the final leg of a long-haul duty day when the bus struck two vehicles, hit the center divider, and overturned into oncoming traffic. The bus driver also died at the scene.
Royal Jordanian confirmed the death in a statement issued from Amman on Tuesday morning and said the remaining injured crew members were in stable condition. The airline did not name the deceased in its initial statement. The National Transportation Safety Board and the New York Police Department are now investigating the cause of the crash, which shut down the expressway in both directions for hours.
The Crash on the Long Island Expressway
The crash happened around 11:45 p.m. on Monday near the Greenpoint Avenue exit in Maspeth, on the westbound Long Island Expressway. Fire officials said the chartered airport shuttle first collided with two vehicles before striking the center divider, then flipped into the eastbound lanes and struck two oncoming cars.
The airline expresses its profound sorrow over this unfortunate incident, offering its condolences and sympathies to the family of the deceased, and wishing the injured a speedy recovery.
Royal Jordanian issued the statement from Amman on Tuesday morning and said details of the incident were still being verified at the time it was issued. The airline added that it was coordinating with the relevant authorities and would continue to monitor the condition of the injured crew members.
About two dozen passengers aboard the bus were transported to Bellevue Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, and Elmhurst Hospital Center for evaluation. The 35-year-old driver of the coach bus and the Royal Jordanian employee were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of one vehicle in the eastbound lanes was taken to a hospital in critical condition, while three other drivers involved were reported to be in stable condition.
Who Was on the Bus, and Who Did Not Make It
The chartered bus was carrying the operating crew of Flight RJ8261, a transatlantic from Queen Alia International Airport in Amman that arrived at JFK just before 9:45 p.m. Royal Jordanian said 15 crew members were on board, including two Thai flight attendants. They were on their way to hotel accommodation when the crash happened.
ABC7 New York identified the deceased Royal Jordanian employee as Moad Farid Mohd Obaidat, 42, of New York City. The airline had not named him in its initial statement, and no further details about the individual injuries of the surviving crew were immediately available.
A Driver With Seven Prior Arrests
Reporting on the driver’s record added another layer to the tragedy. ABC7 New York reported, citing multiple sources, that the deceased driver had seven prior arrests and was a registered Level 2 sex offender in New York. The station also reported that he held a valid driver’s license.
- Seven prior arrests, including charges of burglary, sexual abuse, and forcible touching
- Registered Level 2 sex offender in New York
- Seven moving violations: two for speeding, two for disobeying a traffic control device, and one for dangerous driving
- None of the moving violations were recorded while he was working as a professional driver
- Eyewitness News reached out to the driver’s employer but had not heard back
These details do not answer the central investigative questions, and they should not be used to assign blame before authorities complete their work. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, with the NTSB working alongside the NYPD. Royal Jordanian said only that it was coordinating with the relevant authorities and would continue to monitor the condition of the injured crew members. The airline has not detailed what vetting the bus company conducted before the trip. ABC7NY’s reporting is part of what investigators will now weigh, alongside the physical evidence from the scene.
The driver’s record also highlights the structural problem airlines face when moving crews between airports and hotels. An airline’s duty of care does not stop at the arrival gate, but the contract that moves crew off the airport is typically held by a third party the airline does not directly employ. The Royal Jordanian statement said only that it was coordinating with the relevant authorities and providing support to those affected. Investigators will now look at how the driver was hired and what background checks were done.
JFK Anchors the Network Royal Jordanian Built Over Five Decades
The incident happened away from any aircraft, but it still touched one of Royal Jordanian’s most important long-haul operations. The airline operates daily to JFK using a Boeing 787-8, and more recently with a Boeing 787-9 as the first of an order for six of the type was delivered earlier this year.
JFK was Royal Jordanian’s first North American destination, launched in 1977 when the carrier was still called Alia. The route ran from Queen Alia International Airport in Amman via Amsterdam Schiphol Airport on a Boeing 747-200. The carrier has since grown to seven North American cities, all served by its expanding Dreamliner fleet.
The post-pandemic build-out added Montréal-Trudeau, Toronto Pearson, and Detroit in 2022. By 2025, the airline had added flights to Washington Dulles, connecting the Jordanian and American capitals. Most recently, in May 2026, it launched a new 14-hour route to Dallas/Fort Worth, where it feeds into the largest hub for American Airlines, its oneworld partner.
| Destination | Start date | Frequency | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago O’Hare | 1984 | 5x weekly | 6,223 mi (10,014 km) |
| Dallas/Fort Worth | May 2026 | 4x weekly | 7,023 mi (11,302 km) |
| Detroit | May 24, 2022 | 4x weekly | 6,042 mi (9,724 km) |
| Montreal | May 25, 2007 | 3x weekly | 5,528 mi (8,897 km) |
| New York JFK | 1977 | Daily | 5,726 mi (9,215 km) |
| Toronto | June 2, 2022 | 3x weekly | 5,833 mi (9,388 km) |
| Washington Dulles | March 23, 2025 | 2x weekly | 5,952 mi (9,578 km) |
Royal Jordanian now links JFK to Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Washington, and Dallas through its oneworld partnership with American Airlines. The transatlantic operation is the airline’s main long-haul growth engine outside the Gulf, and JFK remains its flagship North American service. The crew that died was working that route.
Crew Safety Does Not End When the Aircraft Parks
The crash is the latest in a long list of incidents that have ended crews’ lives far from the aircraft they fly. Aviation history has logged several cases of crews facing extraordinary dangers long after the aircraft parked, and the industry’s response has historically lagged behind its record on board the aircraft itself.
British Airways Flight 149 landed in Kuwait in 1990, right as Iraq invaded the country, and passengers and crew were taken hostage as human shields. A Taliban attack on Kabul’s Intercontinental Hotel in 2018 killed multiple members of a Kam Air flight crew. American Airlines flight attendant Celinda Levno was attacked and killed on a layover in Denver in January 2025, in an attack that took place away from her assigned hotel.
These cases are different from the Royal Jordanian bus crash in almost every detail. They share a structural problem: even with planning, contracts, procedures, and local partners, crews can still find themselves exposed to risks they did not choose, cannot assess, and cannot easily control. For airlines, the responsibility to their teams does not end at the arrival gate. It continues until every crew member is safely through the layover and ready to return home.
What Investigators Are Now Piecing Together
The cause of the crash remains under investigation. The NTSB is working alongside the NYPD, and Royal Jordanian has said it is closely following developments in coordination with the relevant authorities. The airline did not name the deceased in its initial statement and provided no further detail about the individual injuries of the surviving crew.
The wreck damaged the median barrier and shut down the expressway in both directions for hours as emergency crews cleared the scene. All lanes of the Long Island Expressway have since reopened, and the airline said it would continue to monitor the condition of the injured while providing support to their families. ABC7NY’s reporting on the driver’s record is part of what investigators will now weigh, alongside the physical evidence from the scene.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened in the Royal Jordanian crew bus crash in New York?
A chartered shuttle carrying 15 Royal Jordanian crew members from Flight RJ8261 flipped on the Long Island Expressway near Greenpoint Avenue in Queens around 11:45 p.m. on Monday, June 29, after the bus struck two vehicles, hit the center divider, and overturned into oncoming traffic. The bus driver and one Royal Jordanian employee were pronounced dead at the scene, and roughly 20 others were injured.
Who was the Royal Jordanian employee killed in the crash?
ABC7 New York identified the Royal Jordanian employee killed in the crash as Moad Farid Mohd Obaidat, a 42-year-old New York City resident. Royal Jordanian’s initial statement did not name him, and no further detail on the individual injuries of the surviving crew had been released at the time of writing.
How did Royal Jordanian respond to the crash?
Royal Jordanian issued a statement from Amman expressing “profound sorrow over this unfortunate incident, offering its condolences and sympathies to the family of the deceased, and wishing the injured a speedy recovery.” The airline said it was coordinating with the relevant authorities and would continue to monitor the condition of the injured crew members.
What is the status of the investigation?
The National Transportation Safety Board is working with the New York Police Department to investigate the cause of the crash. ABC7NY reported, citing multiple sources, that the deceased driver had seven prior arrests including for burglary, sexual abuse, and forcible touching, and was a registered Level 2 sex offender, though cause and blame have not been determined.
How did Royal Jordanian build its North American network?
Royal Jordanian launched JFK as its first North American destination in 1977 under the carrier’s former name Alia, with a Boeing 747-200 route from Amman via Amsterdam. The airline has since expanded to seven North American cities, most recently adding Dallas/Fort Worth in May 2026, and serves all of them with Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft.
