I don’t know what exactly happened here, but this doesn’t look good…
In this post:
United’s rough landing leads to Orlando ground stop
This incident happened today, Sunday, January 18, 2026, shortly after 12:30PM. It involves United Airlines flight UA2323, operating from Chicago (ORD) to Orlando (MCO) with a two-year-old Airbus A321neo with the registration code N14502.
The 2hr19min flight was routine until the landing, and I think the video shared by JonNYC tells you everything you need to know.
The weather conditions seemingly weren’t great, and the plane had a completely botched landing, which caused one of the nose wheels to separate from the aircraft.
Based on the video footage, the landing initially looked relatively standard, with the left rear wheels touching down before the right rear wheels. However, the plane then bounced violently to the right, as the left rear wheels went back into the air, and then the forward wheels touched down. One of the forward wheels eventually just separated from the aircraft, and the plane came to a stop on the runway.
This caused the airport to have a ground stop, as all operations had to be halted. Obviously this is a peak travel period in Orlando, so it’s not the ideal time for something like this to happen. As you’d expect, the plane was taken out of service, and won’t be flying for quite some time…
Unrelated, but is this video being filmed by pilots of another plane, or ops workers in a car? It looks to me like it’s filmed from a flight deck — if so, so much for not using phones for non-essential tasks during critical phases of flight. Or I guess in retrospect, maybe this did turn out to be “critical,” in terms of proving useful to investigators. Heh.
I wonder what exactly went wrong here
Winds were gusty at the time of this incident, but that doesn’t fully explain why something like this would happen. As mentioned above, the landing doesn’t look that unusual at first, but then a lot of weight is put on the rear right gear, and then the forward gear touches down before the rear left gear. So at that point, it’s not surprising that a wheel separated from the aircraft.
It’s sort of the opposite of the 2024 incident United had, where a Boeing 777 lost a wheel after taking off from San Francisco (SFO). In that case, it seemed to be more of a maintenance issue, rather than anything to do with the flying of the aircraft, or the weather conditions.
I am curious to see how long it takes United to repair this Airbus A321neo. Is it just as simple as replacing the wheel, or was there possibly some structural damage?
Bottom line
A United Airlines Airbus A321neo had a mighty rough landing in Orlando, which caused the plane to lose a wheel. While we know it was windy at the time of the incident, that doesn’t fully explain what happened. Fortunately no one was hurt and the plane came to a stop safely, but it did cause a ground stop, leading to operational issues.
What do you make of this A321neo landing in Orlando?
Saying it louder for those in the back:
WE
DO
NOT
CARE
ABOUT
WHAT
HAPPENS
IN
SEPPOLAND.
Trump will sort this out quickly.
MCO has two runways on the west side of the airport (one for takeoffs, one for landings) and two on the east side of the airport (one for takeoffs, one for landings). So for those of you who understand these kinds of things, why would a ground stop be needed on the opposite side of the airport from where this incident took place?
because 3 minus 1 is less than 3
really?
Capt Steeeve has his take on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGCXM0hgWWU
He said with the wind reports, he would have landed elsewhere and also the pilot botched the landing.
As someone who pilots the NEO. My initial reaction is simply a lack of additional flare to arrest the descent. The NEO will punish you with those huge PWs. Just an opinion. Only after full investigation will anyone know. But it does look like the aircraft hit at a higher rate of descent than normal.
Yes RF, I get it now after further reading. Thank you for pointing me towards another interesting school day.
Looks to me like a blown crab correction. The plane was noticeably crabbed left for crosswind. Pilot kicked the rudder to straighten probably a bit too late. That increased the lift on left wing and slammed the right main gear and the right tire of the front gear to the runway. Right tire separated. Happens.
I wonder if the person filming knew something wasn’t right, which is why they started filming.
I live in Orlando, and there were some really strong wind gusts around the time of this incident. Over 30+ mph winds. There was a steep temperature drop as well, from 72°F to 45°F within 90 minutes, starting around noon (just to show you how strong the winds were). That likely contributed to this incident.
Horrible storms. Flew into Orlando a few hours after this and after a several hour delay getting there. The airport was insane. Had to walk over people just to get to the train. This was 6pm and I saw gates where flights scheduled at 1pm were still delayed.
part of the reason for the delays was because of this incident. The runway obviously had to be closed which meant that departures and arrivals backed up pretty quickly. There was a ground stop and ATC metering of flights for several years.
CORRECTION...
for several HOURS.
United are angling for investment from Elon Musk by showing that anything Ryanair does, they can do better!
Yes VF, UA are just above Ryanair in the world rankings, however, both lost ground last year, will they improve this year or what? …. :-)
Simply a foul weather flying incident folks. Coincidentally the pilot dropped the nose as a gust of wind blew the aircraft from port to starboard. The sudden lateral thrust upon the front gear was sufficient to cause the detachment of one nose wheel.
It wasn't just windy it was near tropical storm force. My wife and I had just landed at around 1130 and watched the wind whipping up sand like a sandstorm. On our way home down Heintzelman Rd just east of runway 35L I saw a in incoming flight suddenly TOGA right around that same time 1232 had a hard landing and a whole traffic jam of planes lines up for that runway. Wind was blowing...
It wasn't just windy it was near tropical storm force. My wife and I had just landed at around 1130 and watched the wind whipping up sand like a sandstorm. On our way home down Heintzelman Rd just east of runway 35L I saw a in incoming flight suddenly TOGA right around that same time 1232 had a hard landing and a whole traffic jam of planes lines up for that runway. Wind was blowing our suv around and I thought it was crazy they hadn't done a groundstop right before I noticed the TOGA.
Definitely filmed from a vehicle, not a plane cockpit. No plane has a continuous pane of glass like that all the way across.
In the 1990s I was on a Continental Lite DC9 taking off from Columbia, SC. I was reading as we made our took off run, but looked up when there was loud murmuring from other passengers. I looked out the window just in time to see a wheel rolling and then bouncing into the infield. Kinda' surreal. The pilot spoke over the intercom to tell us, "Yes, that was one of our right side main...
In the 1990s I was on a Continental Lite DC9 taking off from Columbia, SC. I was reading as we made our took off run, but looked up when there was loud murmuring from other passengers. I looked out the window just in time to see a wheel rolling and then bouncing into the infield. Kinda' surreal. The pilot spoke over the intercom to tell us, "Yes, that was one of our right side main gear wheels you saw departing the aircraft, but there are two wheels per side and we think the other one is in place." We made a low pass over the tower and confirmed that the second wheel appeared ok, so we flew on to New Orleans. We made the gentlest landing I've ever experienced.
I live in Orlando and there was a nasty storm that blew through at this exact same time with some very intense wind gusts. Would not be surprised to see a report that wind gust impacted this landing attempt.
I saw the ground stop and knew Ben would come through w/ the reason.
That was just a bad landing. Any landing that puts that much pressure on the nose wheel is all wrong.
After AA's bad landing on the XLR at LAX, maybe a little refresher training is in order for the 321.
I congratulate you on a level-headed and seemingly accurate post
Wow two landing incidents just days apart with new A321 aircraft. What is going on with the Airbus A321?
It's not the airplane, it's the driver.
Absolutely nothing Greg, luckily they were not Boeing Max thingamajigs, yes?
Absolutely Tim, simulator time is always a refreshing experience …. :-)
Yes clearly every airline with A321s better get their pilots in the sim. /s
Or maybe it's because the XLR, like all Airpuses, is a flaming bag of dog crap.
Actually ORD, as much as you would like to berate Airbus, pilot miscalculation and foul weather are the more likely culprits. As Tim, suggested …. more simulator time might be needed.
Anyway, I’m sure that Ben, will appreciate your click contribution.
Airpuses are what comes out of a dog's ass, only on fire. It's Eurotrash like you.
lol ….. ORD, we all appreciate how you came up with that foul comment, as you only have dog’s excrement holding your ears apart. Foul minds produce disappointingly foul responses, yes?
However, thank you for the clicks ORD, Ben, is sure to appreciate them darlink …. Xxxx
And I'm sure, as Tim would say, Delta has the best pilots and training program, unlike its competitors. Delta's safety record and quality of pilots is simply premium in comparison.
You sure it's a pilot filming? Ops people film alot.
Looks like it was filmed by a SY plane waiting for takeoff https://www.flightradar24.com/2026-01-18/17:33/2x/28.40,-81.32/14
I think United had a screw loose.