Vintage NASA Jet Skids to a Fiery Stop in Dramatic ‘Wheels-Up’ Landing

One of NASA’s vintage research aircraft made a gear-up landing at a Houston airport due to an unidentified mechanical problem, sliding its way across the runway while leaving a fiery trail behind.

A video of WB-57 shows the high-altitude aircraft during its hard landing at the Ellington Airport late Tuesday morning, KHOU 11 first reported. NASA later confirmed that the two-person crew on board the aircraft was unharmed and that its response to the incident is ongoing.

Video shows a NASA research plane sliding along the runway at Ellington Airport after making a gear-up landing Tuesday morning. https://t.co/aqC7z1IMTu pic.twitter.com/UrZQ0W514q

— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) January 28, 2026

“As with any incident, a thorough investigation will be conducted by NASA into the cause,†the space agency wrote on X. “NASA will transparently update the public as we gather more information.â€

Rough touchdown

NASA’s Johnson Space Center operates three WB-57 aircraft, which have been used in several atmospheric and Earth science research missions, as well as for testing new airborne and spaceborne instruments. The aircraft have been flying since the early 1970s, with a maximum altitude of 60,000 feet and a flight duration of up to seven hours.

According to information from Flightradar24, the aircraft involved in Tuesday’s incident had already flown earlier that day and was on its third flight when the issue occurred, Aviation Week reported. Before that, NASA transported the WB-57 back to Houston from California on January 15, possibly using it to monitor a hypersonic test flight.

Following the gear-up landing, the WB-57 aircraft may have sustained some damage to the lower fuselage but otherwise remained intact. Emergency crews at Ellington Airport responded to the incident, and officials closed the runway until crews removed the aircraft, according to KHOU 11.

Modified aircraft

The WB-57 is a modified version of the Martin B-57 Canberra. The English Electric Company began developing the plane in the 1940s, and the U.S. Air Force later adopted it to replace the Douglas B-26 Invader.

The Air Force used the B-57 during the Vietnam War for nighttime bombing missions and high-altitude surveillance. NASA later acquired the aircraft and modified them for reconnaissance missions, probing clouds, flying above hurricanes, and studying the effect of plumes from rockets on the stratosphere.

Two of the three B-57 aircraft are currently undergoing major inspections—one scheduled to finish on February 16, and the other on indefinite hold, according to NASA. The aircraft involved in Tuesday’s incident is the only one to have flown recently.