Passengers on a United Airlines flight from Chicago O’Hare to Orlando had a hair-raising experience on Sunday after the plane smacked onto the runway so hard that one of the front nosewheel tires flew off and rolled down the tarmac.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the aircraft, which is only two years old, has been removed from service until Tuesday at the earliest. In a statement, United euphemistically described the incident as a “mechanical issue.”
United Airbus A321neo loses tire in wild landing in Orlando
Flight details
- United Airlines flight UA-2323
- Route: Chicago O’Hare (ORD) – Orlando (MCO)
- Aircraft: Airbus A321neo
- Registration: N14502
At around 9 am on January 18, United Airlines flight UA-2323 departed Chicago O’Hare for the two-hour flight down to Orlando. Most of the flight passed off without incident, but as the Airbus A321neo was coming into land, the hair-raising touchdown was caught on video by an airport worker who happened to be filming the incident from a perfect vantage point on the taxiway.
The approach seemed to be pretty normal, and the two main landing gears touched the tarmac first, as is standard practice. At this point, however, the landing seemed to go horribly wrong.
The touchdown seemed to be pretty heavy, sending smoke from the tires billowing into the air, before the front of the plane lurched forward. The front landing gear then impacted the tarmac with such force that one of the tires flew off and could be seen rolling down the runway.
To give an indication of just how badly the landing went wrong, the pilots decided to stop the aircraft on the runway rather than taxiing to the gate so that the airport fire department could check over the plane for signs of damage.
During this time, the airport had to put a ground stop into effect as the fire department was engaged in an emergency response, leading to delays at the busy South Florida airport.
Aviation insider xJonNYC on X later shared a photo of the nosegear, which showed the right-hand tire had sheared right off, leaving just one working tire.
Not the first time this has happened
In March 2024, an incident involving a United Airlines Boeing 777 went viral when a planespotter caught the moment a tire fell off a landing gear during takeoff from San Francisco International Airport.
United flight UA35 was bound for Osaka, Japan, with 249 people onboard, but the plane was forced to divert to Los Angeles, where it landed safely. The tire ended up falling in an employee parking lot, crushing several cars but thankfully not causing any injuries.
Several months later, a tire fell off a United Airlines Boeing 757 as it was taking off from Los Angeles International Airport. Once again, video footage caught the moment that the tire bounced along the runway.
Passengers onboard the nearly 30-year-old aircraft were told to prepare for an emergency landing, but it ended up landing without incident in Denver around two hours after takeoff.
United put under investigation by FAA
Following a series of safety mishaps involving United Airlines in 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) put the carrier under formal investigation. The rare safety probe was opened following a slew of incidents, including the botched landing of a United 737MAX at Houston Intercontinental, in which the plane rolled onto the grass at the end of the runway, and the landing gear collapsed.
In October 2024, however, the FAA wrapped up its investigation after coming to the conclusion that there were no significant safety issues at the airline.
