Looks like the widow maker strikes again.
At least the crew didn't get a "Wing Off" warning light........
http://http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article93566.ece
Lufthansa plane's 'hard landing caused fire'
By GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN | ARAB NEWS Published: Aug 1, 2010 00:04 Updated: Aug 1, 2010 00:04 RIYADH: Preliminary investigations into Tuesday's crash of a Lufthansa cargo plane have contradicted earlier reports that linked the accident to a "midair fire" on board the aircraft. The statement released by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) on Saturday said that a "heavy hit on the surface of the runway caused the crash that led to a fire and billowing smoke all around" immediately after landing. The plane's black box recorder has been recovered and is being analyzed, according to GACA spokesman Khaled Al-Khaibari. The report said the plane's hard landing occurred at 11:38 a.m. at Riyadh's King Khaled International Airport as it arrived from Frankfurt on the first stop of a run that would have continued to Sharjah and Hong Kong. According to airline sources, there were no hints of a malfunction, or even of on-board fire prior to landing. The results of GACA's investigation also contradict earlier reports attributed to Saudi air traffic control officials who said that the crew had declared an emergency just before touchdown. In fact, an alert was declared and all necessary support mobilized only after the plane struck the runway and caught fire, according to the initial investigations. "The international investigating officers in cooperation with Saudi officials are still gathering information from the crash site," said the GACA statement. Investigators have learned that the plane's landing gear remained intact after the crash, but the front gear was destroyed, causing the plane's nose to impact the ground. Damage to the rear fuselage and the type of injuries sustained by the pilots are seen as indicators of a violent impact. "Metal scratching along the runway could be identified as an ignition source (to the ensuing fire)," said an airline official on the condition of anonymity. The fire destroyed much of the upper-half of the plane and the estimated 80 tons of cargo, the official added. The official said investigators are still trying to figure out if the hard landing was the result of some kind of emergency that caused the pilots to attempt to land as quickly as possible or whether the accident occurred during a normal landing procedure gone awry. The pilots' account of what transpired before the accident have yet to be revealed publicly.