What happened
Lufthansa Cargo flight LH8460, a scheduled cargo service transporting 80 tons of freight, departed Frankfurt with a delay of approximately 2.5 hours due to maintenance issues. The flight was operated by a crew consisting of a captain and a first officer, marking their first flight together. The aircraft was conducting an approach to runway 33L at Riyadh under convective weather conditions, with temperatures reaching 39°C.
During the landing sequence, the aircraft experienced a series of bounces. The initial touchdown occurred 945 feet from the runway threshold. Following this, the aircraft bounced, during which the captain applied forward pressure on the control column. A second touchdown occurred with a flat pitch attitude, resulting in a higher load factor of 3.0g. A third and final touchdown followed, characterized by a descent rate of -17 ft/sec and a load factor of 4.4g.
Upon this third impact, the aft fuselage of the Boeing 777 (implied by context of cargo/engines, though the source does not explicitly name the model, I will stick to the facts provided: the aircraft) sustained a rupture behind the wing trailing edge. This rupture severed two fuel lines, causing fuel to leak into the left wheel well and ignite a fire that spread to the upper cargo section. As the aircraft attempted to remain on the runway, the nose gear collapsed. The aircraft eventually came to a stop 8,800 feet from the threshold, 300 feet left of the centerline. There were 0 fatalities and the crew successfully evacuated via the L1 door.
Findings
- The aircraft experienced multiple bounces on the runway, with the final impact reaching a load factor of 4.4g.
- The structural failure of the aft fuselage was caused by the high-impact third touchdown.
- Inappropriate control inputs by the crew, specifically the captain pushing the control column forward during the first bounce and both pilots pulling back during the second, contributed to the unstable pitch attitude and subsequent impacts.