'It happens, I recall someones 747-400F taking the runway in HKG a while back and the wing (?) gear strut outer cylinder just decided to fracture. Not long out of overhaul too. '
However, you can go back to 1969 and the 747's first flight and you won't find one incident of it's WING BREAKING OFF.
And it's been around a lot longer than the MD11, same with the L1011, A300, 767, 777, pick a widebody, none of them have an accident record like the MD11.
And none of them break apart like it either.
