A two-year-old Airbus A321neo operating for United Airlines experienced an unsettling landing in Orlando last week, following reports of the aircraft damaging its front nose wheel, where it is alleged it separated from the aircraft. This will result in the aircraft remaining grounded for repair before it can re-enter commercial service.

The event, widely speculated on Airliners.net and One Mile At A Time, has stemmed from a video shared by Aviation Insider JonNYC on X, which captures the moment that the Airbus A321neo, bearing registration N14502, touched down at Orlando International Airport (MCO), misjudging the landing in less-than-perfect weather conditions, causing the nose wheel to separate from the airplane.

Lost A Nose Wheel On Landing

The video footage of the narrow-body A321neo coming into land at MCO captures the moment the aircraft comes into contact with the runway at the busy Florida airport, with crew and passengers experiencing quite a bumpy landing. The aircraft appears to make contact on both rear wheels before the left side of the aircraft becomes airborne again. During the contact of the front landing gear to the runway, the force then appears to see one of these two wheels be separated from the aircraft and exit the runway to the right.

Simple Flying reached out to United Airlines for comment on the incident, and was provided details that the aircraft experienced a mechanical issue on landing, and no injuries were reported fort he 200 passengers and six crew members onboard:

United Flight 2323 from Chicago to Orlando experienced a mechanical issue upon landing. Passengers were bused to the terminal, and the aircraft was cleared from the runway. No injuries were reported.

United Flight 2323

Operating as UA2323, Flightradar24 identifies the nonstop service from Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Orlando had departed from the Windy City on Sunday, January 18 at 9:15 am, 15 minutes behind the initial scheduled departure time of 9:00 am. The plane took off from the airport on its south-western facing runway before climbing to its cruising altitude of approximately 32,000 feet.

With an accumulated flight time of two hours and 19 minutes, the aircraft was coming into arrive at Orlando when the video footage captured the moment the aircraft experienced the front nose wheel separation. The plane has a reported arrival time of 12:34 pm, marginally ahead of the 12:55 scheduled arrival time.

Since the incident, the aircraft has remained grounded at Orlando while repairs are undertaken before the aircraft will be deemed airworthy and be able to resume normal scheduled operations. A damage report shared by Airliners.net suggests the full repair list required:

« #4502 will be down for a while. FOD damage in the engines, blades, fan case, acoustic panels, T/Rs. #2 MLG Tire cut. Nose Gear damage, upper strut, torque links. Nose Gear Left axle damaged. Flap damage. RT MLG Gear Door damage. Fuselage dings. Tow Attach Point damaged. Biggest item, no one was hurt. Fixes in the works. »

N14502 Aircraft Details

Using data from ch-aviation, identify the aircraft N14502, which bears serial number 11598. It took its first test flight back on November 8, 2023, under German Airbus registration D-AZAA. IT was subsequently delivered to United Airlines, who accepted delivery on November 28, 2023, where it was transferred to the US aircraft registration it carries today.

Configured to carry a total of 200 passengers across two classes, the narrow-body airplane seats 20 passengers in United First in a four-abreast configuration, while a further 180 are seated in United Economy in a six-abreast configuration. Further characteristics are detailed below:

The aircraft is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW1133G engines, and is one of 58 A321neos that make up the airline’s A321 fleet. The wider UA narrowbody fleet is made up of the Airbus A319-100, A320-200, Boeing 737-700, 737-800, 737-900, 737-MAX 8, and 737-MAX 9.