>>but the design limit (when it breaks) should be 1.5x cert limit – 900 ft/min (15 ft/sec).<<
Yep, it broke pretty much as advertised this time.
>>you may wish to research the accident history of all MD10 & MD11 aircraft accidents involving gear / structural failure at touchdown; it does not make comfortable reading.<<
Here's a discussion of Mad Dog safety (actually the MD-11 but FedEx, gusty landings and gear failure are prominently mentioned):
http://www.airlinesafety.com/faq/faq9.htm
It's probably a good thing that the MD-11 is used mostly for freight these days...