Passengers on a United flight to Orlando got quite the surprise over the weekend after a rough landing led to the aircraft losing a wheel.
United Aircraft Loses Wheel After Hard Landing
On Sunday, January 18, 2026, United Airlines Flight 2323, operated by a two year old Airbus A321neo with the registration N14502, lost part of its nose gear during landing at Orlando International Airport (MCO). The flight had just arrived from Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) when the incident occured.
Video taken of the event clearly shows a hard landing with the aircraft’s nose gear and, if you look closely, you can see the wheel shoot off to the right away from the plane upon landing.
The incident was significant enough that a ground stop was declared at the airport, though that was quickly lifted and replaced with a ground delay. According to United the aircraft suffered a “mechanical issue” upon landing.
There were 200 passengers and 6 crewmembers aboard the aircraft which were all transported to the terminal via bus. No injuries have been reported at this time.
Unsurprisingly, the aircraft has been removed from service while United works on next steps to get it repaired and returned to service. Based on photos from the scene, the wheel appears to have been sheared completely off. It will be interesting to see if this is as simple as replacing the wheel or of structural damage occurred to the plane.
Summary
A United Airlines Airbus A321neo lost part of its nose gear during a rough landing at Orlando International Airport. No injuries have been reported and the aircraft has been removed from service for evaluation and repairs.