NASA plane touches down without landing gear, flames erupt | Watch

A NASA research plane malfunctioned and had to touch down in Texas without landing gear on Tuesday (January 27), sliding across the runway on its belly and sending plumes of flame behind it, a video posted to social media showed.

The crew landed the plane at Ellington Airport, southeast of Houston, and are “all safe at this time,” NASA said in a post on X. The federal space agency added that there was “mechanical issue” that will be investigated.

The aircraft with its distinct thin fuselage is the NASA WB-57. The plane with two crew seats is capable of flying for about 6 1/2 hours at high altitudes — beyond 63,000 feet (19,200 metres).

Video shows the plane slowly descending toward the runway, then touching down with a jolt, its wings bouncing as yellow fire and white smoke bursts from beneath it. It steadily slides down the track, the flames bursting and disappearing in a cloud of smoke. The aircraft begins to slow before the video ends.

A mechanical issue with a high-altitude NASA research aircraft forced the vessel to touch down without its landing gear deployed on Tuesday, officials said. No injuries were reported. https://t.co/pCS2x0LajB

pic.twitter.com/fdFXTQtETK

— ABC News (@ABC) January 27, 2026

Local news footage from KHOU 11 shows the plane at a stop, the cockpit hatch open, fire trucks flashing nearby and emergency responders working around the black nose of the aircraft.

The NASA WB-57 has flown research missions since the 1970s and continues to be an asset for the scientific community, according to the agency's website.