Forced landing
"... uncontrollable fire ... is it better to do a controlled ditching ...?"
There is a news service photo of an airliner on ground after a forced landing, the caption cities several famous movie stars aboard, in the crowd around the airliner:
PAA / 18Jun46 Lockheed Constellation NC????? [Can't read ##'s in Acme photo shown on pg 1 of _Air Line Pilot_ , June '48]. Near tragic in flight fire that imperiled 51 passengers and crew .... Force landed near Willimantic, Conn, to avert disaster -- one of its four engines caught fire and fell from the plane due to its supporting structure weakened and eaten away by heat . . . . Flaming outboard engine had fallen from starboard side, leaving a gaping hole in the wing.