Lufthansa Cargo MD-11 Crash-Lands in Riyadh

I was shocked this morning to read that a Lufthansa Cargo MD-11 crash-landed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, earlier today.

The pilot of Lufthansa Cargo flight LH8460 reported a fire in the cargo bay of the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 as he approached King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh. Witnesses report black smoke coming from the plane prior to touch down. The plane was scheduled to continue to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates after leaving Riyadh. At the time of the crash it was carrying 80 tons of freight. Both, the pilot and the co-pilot survived and were brought to a hospital. Both are in "good" condition. There have been no deaths caused by the crash.

In the history of Lufthansa Cargo, this is the first accident that totally destroyed a plane. At this point, pilot error can be ruled out as the cause and the cause of the fire will have to be determined. Over the last year and a half, three MD-11s were totally destroyed in accidents, all of them freighters.

To read the Bloomberg piece, please click here.