An off airfield crash is not a surviveable option in this scenario. In fact there have been precious few examples of off airfield landings of jets that worked out. The only ones that I can think of involved a total absense of fuel on the aircraft.
200,000lbs of fuel at 200 kts is a HUGE fireball. If you don't impact in the immediate, I mean IMMEDIATE vicinity of the field firestation, you haven't got a chance.
Had they put the aircraft down strait ahead in a field fully fueled, the result would have been the same, all on board dead.
Furthermore, there is no way they could have known where the fire was. Aluminum degregrades VERY rapidly when heated, I suspect the holes in the plane were rapidly getting larger. If a fuel tank is streaming fuel and on fire, I hate to say it, but its gonna end badly. The only hope is to land on the doorstep of crash fire and rescue.
Also, landing an airliner in dirt is the worst possible scenario. They simply aren't stressed for it. That is why when the landing gear is hung up and you can't get it down you belly land on the concrete, not the dirt next to the concrete. This is because the aircraft will slide around on the concrete doing less structural damage then in the dirt where it will tend to dig in. Airplane digs in and tumbles, initial impact may have been controlled, but the second one won't be.
Don't believe me? Its a mandatory write up and inspection ANY time an airliner leaves the concrete, even taxing at 5 kts because of the stresses on the uncarriage. Yes, I know there are exceptions for the 727/737s with the gravel kit, but those aircraft are designed for it.
As to the climb to 200 feet. I suspect that he was trying to get just high enough to see the field, at less that 100 feet you would be ontop of the field before you could aquire it visually...
Cheers
Wino
[ 29 August 2001: Message edited by: Wino ]