On 16 May 1995, an RAF Nimrod R1 suffered a catastrophic engine fire in number 4 engine. As a result of this fire, the Captain made the difficult decision to ditch in the North Sea just three miles from RAF Lossiemouth rather than push on to land on the runway. It has subsequently been calculated that the aircraft would have lost its wing entirely between 30 and 90 seconds after the ditching and could not have made it to the runway.
SKYbrary - Reflections on the Decision to Ditch a Large Transport Aircraft