Federal crash investigators are taking a fresh look at a rough United Airlines landing in Las Vegas that scraped the tail of a Boeing 737 but left everyone on board uninjured. The jet, however, did not fare as well, suffering serious aft-fuselage damage that kept it out of commercial service for months.
On February 22, 2026, the National Transportation Safety Board officially classified the July 2025 event as an accident and opened a Class 4 investigation, according to Simple Flying. That move essentially elevates what had been handled as a local post-landing incident into a formal federal probe, with investigators set to review flight data, maintenance history, and operational procedures tied to the flight.
United flight UA2136 left Washington Dulles on July 2 and landed just after midnight on July 3 at Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport, touching down on runway 26L when the tail contacted the runway surface, according to the Aviation Safety Network. The database lists 147 passengers and seven crew members aboard and confirms there were no injuries reported.
The aircraft involved - a Boeing 737-900ER registered N66831 - was grounded immediately after the tailstrike and cycled through parking or storage at several locations before it finally went back into service on October 8, 2025. An aircraft history page traces those movements and its return-to-service date, per records on Planespotters.
What A Class 4 Investigation Means
In NTSB parlance, a Class 4 investigation is relatively limited in scope, often handled largely from the office rather than with a big on-site team. The focus is on reconstructing the chain of events and nailing down direct causes, not on a sprawling, multi-group deep dive into every corner of the operation. NTSB classification guidance notes that Class 4 cases are led by an investigator-in-charge and typically culminate in a factual report that is wrapped up within months.
Tailstrikes Can Hurt Jets Even When People Walk Away
Tailstrikes may sound like minor scrapes, but contact between the tail and the runway can chew up the lower aft fuselage skin and stress or deform structural components such as the aft pressure bulkhead. That kind of damage almost always triggers detailed structural inspections and significant repairs before an aircraft is cleared to carry passengers again.
Historical records and incident databases maintained by the Aviation Safety Network show that similar tailstrike events have repeatedly sidelined jets for weeks or months, as operators work through repairs and mandatory checks before returning the aircraft to scheduled flying.
By formally opening this case, the NTSB has put the July landing back under the federal microscope, setting up a closer look at flight data, maintenance logs and crew accounts to determine a probable cause. For now, the episode stands out as a non-injury accident that still benched a United 737 for an extended stretch, and the public docket is expected to grow as investigators add factual summaries and any potential safety recommendations.
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