the wings snapped off
prof2MDA
I agree, the energy was enormous, but you misunderstand. This a/c DID survive the last flop on the deck. But the wings did not. The MLG survived, but the wings snapped.
In BA038, the 777 had a push through and bellied to a stop. If, at Narita, the gear had failed, the results may have been similar, and survivable. Machinbird, where do I advocate an AD on gear structure? The 777 RMLG folded back, unfortunately entering the cabin and maiming a passenger, but the wings stayed on, the tanks maintained integrity, and what fuel was left (little) did not ignite. Narita was a firestorm from the initial failure of the spar on.
You conclude the gear architecture was not similar in design. How's that? The DC-10 was built post Phantom also, by the same company that had concluded that hard mounting the struts to the spars was survivable. Clearly, in Narita, they were not. Even if the design was inked by different teams, the fact remains, the Gear did not fail, and I conclude that if it had, the crash was survivable.