As for FDX's landing technique, I cannot comment but they have been operating the type for a hell of a lot of years/hours and one would assume that if there were systemic deficiencies in their prescribed landing techniques, there would be similar incidents, if not accidents.
FedEx has suffered a significant number of landing incidents, including 3 hull losses.
As I observed here in 2006:
Sadly, FedEx seems to have a widebody hull loss every two or three years. If they were a pax carrier there would be enormous adverse publicity and probably many casualties as well.
http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/2...ml#post2746987
It was nearly three years from the second MEM landing hull loss in the thread above to the fatal crash in NRT.
Shore Guy gives this list of earlier losses on the 2006 thread:
To my recollection, this [the second MEM crash landing in 2006 - Airbubba] will be the sixth hull loss for Fedex in recent history.
Going from memory here....not necessarily in chronological order.
MD-10 MEM July, 2006 (looks like a hull loss)
MD-10 MEM 2003
B727 Tallahassee, Fl.
DC-10 Stewart, N.Y. (Aircraft landed ok, burnt due to undeclared hazmat - sound familiar?). I was right behind him that morning....diverted to EWR.
MD-11 Subic Bay - as I recall, there were split airspeed indications, and they slaved the good one to the bad ADC. Went off runway end at high speed....aircraft broke apart, but crew ok.
MD-11 - EWR “Turtle” accident……
http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/2...ml#post2747577
Fedex does indeed have a troubling history of landing accidents in recent years. Larger U.S. pax carriers like AA, UA and DL have had far fewer hull losses in combination over the same period. Is this run of bad luck a continuing statistical fluke? I don't claim to know the answer.
Whether cargo operators should be held to the same safety standards as pax operators has been debated here and elsewhere. In recent discussions of rest rules, ALPA has called for 'one level of safety' for both freight and pax ops:
http://www.ntsb.gov/events/symp_air_...s/3.3_ALPA.pdf
In the post 911-BK era, Fedex pays pilots more than AA, UA and DL and they are profitable in these down times, so lack of money for training and maintenance does not seem to be an issue.