There are two numbers no airline pilot wants to say on the radio in the same breath: one landing gear leg that will not come down, and minutes of fuel left. On Sunday evening, 25 October, the crew of United Airlines flight 1854 dealt with both over Houston, and still brought their almost-new Boeing 737 MAX 9 down without a scratch on anyone.
The flight from Grand Cayman to Houston George Bush Intercontinental landed safely at about 8:12 pm local time after two low passes over the airport and a long hold. United says 83 passengers and six crew were on board. Nobody was hurt.
Quick Facts
- Flight: United Airlines UA1854, Grand Cayman (GCM) to Houston Intercontinental (IAH)
- Date: Sunday 25 October 2026
- Aircraft: Boeing 737 MAX 9, registration N27474, two CFM LEAP-1B engines
- On board: 83 passengers and 6 crew, according to United
- Problem: Right main gear would not extend, according to ATC audio; low fuel reported
- Touchdown: About 8:12 pm CDT on Runway 9; gate E16 at 8:24 pm
- Injuries: None reported
A gear leg that stayed up
UA1854 left Grand Cayman at 4:28 pm, 17 minutes early. The trouble started on the descent into Houston. According to air traffic control recordings reported by Avi-Go and VisaVerge, the crew told controllers that the right main landing gear would not extend. Preliminary FAA information cited by the Houston Chronicle describes a possible landing gear problem and says the crew also reported low fuel.
To find out what the gear was actually doing, the crew flew low passes along the line of Runway 8R so that people on the ground and in another aircraft could look. ADS-B data analysed by AeroCorner shows a first pass below 1,000 feet at about 7:30 pm and a second at a few hundred feet shortly before 8 pm. The verdict from below, according to the audio: the right main gear was still retracted.
Ten minutes of fuel
Low passes and holding patterns burn fuel, and a flight from the Caribbean does not carry hours of spare. In the radio exchange reported by Avi-Go and VisaVerge, the captain told controllers the aircraft had about 10 to 12 minutes of fuel remaining and asked for emergency services to meet the jet. The same recordings have the captain reporting 90 souls on board, one more than United's figure of 89; the discrepancy has not been explained.
Then, during the final hold, the right main gear came down. The 737 touched down on Runway 9 at about 8:12 pm, roughly 43 minutes after the first low pass, taxied under its own power and reached gate E16 at 8:24 pm. Emergency services met the aircraft, and passengers left normally at the gate.
A two-month-old jet
The aircraft involved, N27474, is close to new. FAA registry data cited by AeroCorner gives it an airworthiness date of 18 August 2026, which means it had been flying with United for about two months. United has not said what caused the gear to stay up; officially it refers only to a mechanical indication. The FAA says it is investigating.
Landing gear that refuses to extend is rare on modern airliners, which have alternate extension systems that let gravity drop the gear if hydraulics fail. Why that was not enough straight away, and why a fuel state this tight developed, are the questions the investigation will have to answer. For the 89 people on board, the only number that mattered in the end was zero injuries.
Air traffic control audio from United flight 1854 during the gear problem and low-fuel emergency at Houston.
Sources: Houston Chronicle, AeroCorner (ADS-B Exchange, FlightStats, FAA registry), Avi-Go, VisaVerge, United Airlines statement
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