Is anyone else not entirely convinced by Tightslop's opinion that the a/c would have 'exploded on impact' if the B777 had landed on the tarmac instead ofthe grass. My knowledge of heavy jet ops is somewhat limited but i seem to remember an A330 achieving something similiar in the Azores.
Surely the B777 would have survived relatively intact if it had landed on the runway instead of the grass?
I agree with you. As I understand it the impact on the grass was mainly responsible for the undercarriage shearing off, if they had made the runway it would probably have been a (very) hard landing and the discussion on here would be about a "reported engine failure on finals at LHR".