A United Airlines Airbus A321neo suffered a frightening landing incident in Orlando after touching down hard and losing a wheel during rollout. While no one was injured, this appears to be a serious failure that will draw close scrutiny.
A United Airlines Airbus A321neo experienced a hard landing at Orlando International Airport (MCO) that resulted in one of the aircraft’s wheels detaching after touchdown. The incident occurred during landing and rollout (the phase after an aircraft touches down on the runway, when it is decelerating on the ground until it exits the runway or comes to a stop), but the aircraft remained upright and controllable.
There were no reported injuries, but the aircraft bounced hard and sustained damage and was removed from service. JonNYC first flagged the incident, which was captured on video:
The aricraft wast traveling from Chicago O’Hare (ORD) on Sunday, January 18, 2026 as UA2323 (with registration code N14502). Emergency vehicles were dispatched immediately and the aircraft stopped on the active taxiway, causing a temporary groundstop during a busy morning at MCO.
The aircraft touched down firmly, and during the landing sequence one of the wheels separated from the landing gear assembly. Video and photographs from the scene show debris on the runway and emergency vehicles responding, though there was no fire and no evacuation was required.
Hard landings do occur occasionally in commercial aviation, particularly during unstable approaches, gusty winds, or challenging runway conditions. However, landing gear assemblies are built to withstand significant forces, and a wheel detaching is highly abnormal. United has not yet released details on what caused the landing to exceed design tolerances, but the aircraft has been grounded pending inspection. There were strong wind gusts in the area reported at MCO during the time of the landing.
How Serious Is This?
While the outcome was ultimately benign in terms of passenger injury, this is not a minor incident.
Landing gear failures are taken extremely seriously because they occur during one of the most critical phases of flight. Even though the aircraft was already on the ground, the loss of a wheel introduces significant risk, particularly at high speeds.
Modern aircraft are engineered with redundancy, which is why this did not escalate further. That said, a wheel separation suggests either extreme loading, a mechanical defect, or a maintenance issue that will require thorough investigation.
The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to review the incident. It was only in 2024 that United was subject to an extended FAA investigation after a series of questionable incidents raised questions over routine maintenance. That does not appear to be at play here, though it cannot fully be ruled out yet. The FAA investigation found no “significant” safety issues.
The Airbus A321neo is a widely used and generally reliable aircraft type across multiple global carriers, including United. There is no indication at this time that this incident reflects a broader fleet issue.
CONCLUSION
This was a dramatic and unsettling incident, even if it ended without injuries. A hard landing severe enough to detach a wheel is not routine, and it will be closely examined by United, Airbus, and regulators.
The good news is that the aircraft remained controllable, passengers were unharmed, and the systems did what they were designed to do when things went wrong. Still, this is the kind of incident that rightly raises questions and deserves a clear explanation once the investigation is complete. It isn’t clear how long the aircraft will be out of service, but it remains parked in Orlando today.
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