Frontier Airlines Flight 3506 Incident at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport

The FAA investigated a hard landing incident involving Frontier Airlines Flight 3506 at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Note on the date: this incident originally occurred on Tuesday, April 15, 2025; PRBAA is highlighting it now following recent coverage of the FAA's findings, published October 20, 2026.

What happened

Flight 3506, an Airbus A321-271NX (N607FR), was arriving at SJU from Orlando International Airport (MCO) on a scheduled passenger flight with 235 passengers and crew on board. During a night approach to runway 10, the aircraft initially touched down firmly - flight data later showed a maximum vertical acceleration of about 2.2g, above the 1.8g hard-landing threshold. As the crew initiated a go-around, the nose landing gear's left wheel and tire separated from its axle, and metal fragments from the wheel assembly were ingested by the number one engine, damaging the inlet cowl liner, thrust reverser, fan blades and guide vanes.

Air traffic control alerted pilots of debris on the runway and an engine fire was reported by the tower. The aircraft circled the airport and made two more landing attempts, touching down successfully at 10:20 p.m. local time. Several other inbound flights had to divert while the airport was temporarily closed. No fire was found upon inspection, and all passengers and crew were uninjured - they were deplaned via airstairs and bussed to the terminal.

Investigation

The NTSB classified the event as a serious incident and opened investigation DCA25LA184, issuing a preliminary report. The FAA also investigated. Frontier said in a statement: "The aircraft landed safely and there were no injuries to the passengers or crew. The incident is under investigation."