All Clocks Aboard Read 18:30

A 32-year-old United Airlines Boeing 767-300ER suffered significant damage after a hard landing at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).

The cause of the hard landing remains under investigation by the NTSB. The aircraft, in accordance with Federal Aviation Regulation, remains grounded in Houston.

The FAA’s Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) system disclosed only that the wide-body jet “made a hard landing” and a post-flight inspection “revealed damage to the fuselage.”

In a broader sense, reports indicate the incident-aircraft, then operating as United Airlines Flight UA702, touched down on IAH Runway 26L at 10:34 CDT on Saturday, 29 July—just over three-hours after the plane departed New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).

Notwithstanding the hard landing—from which UA702’s 193 passengers and 11 crew-members emerged unscathed—the 767-300ER taxied to the IAH ramp under its own power. Damage to the aircraft, however, was substantial, and included buckling and tearing of its anterior fuselage skin.

Prior to the EWR-IAH service, the incident-aircraft, registration N641UA, had departed Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI)—the primary airport serving Palma de Mallorca, the capital and largest city of Spain’s Balearic Islands, an archipelago in the Balearic Sea off the Iberian Peninsula’s eastern coast—arriving in Newark on the afternoon of 28 July. Earlier still, N641UA had operated a round-trip, transatlantic service between the U.S. and Berlin (BER).

In a statement pertaining to the IAH hard-landing, United Airlines set forth: "United flight 702 landed in Houston on Saturday, and all customers deplaned normally. We’re working with the NTSB and FAA and conducting our own investigation to understand the details of this landing."

The carrier further stated the aircraft "remains parked in Houston and is not currently scheduled for any flights."

Boeing delivered N641UA to United Airlines in April 1991. The aircraft is the oldest of United’s 37 767-300ERs and seats 203 passengers in a three-class configuration comprising 149 economy, 24 premium economy, and thirty business-class seats.

Owing to the age of the aircraft and the damage wrought upon its airframe during the 29 July incident, it is likely United’s financial advantage lies in scrapping the jet rather than repairing it.

United, in point of fact, intends to retire the entirety of its aging 767-300ER and 777-200 fleets by 2030. The aforementioned aircraft will be replaced, largely, by Boeing’s proven and popular 787 wide-body jet. All told, United has one-hundred 787 family aircraft on order, to include the 787-8, 787-9, and 787-10 variants.

FMI: www.ntsb.org