Originally Posted by
griffinj
Perhaps there was a reason for a grass landing. If the brakes were out then landing on the runway is pointless because you're going to roll off the other end. I'm speculating whether or not brakes could have factored into the grass landing.
Was the undercarriage ripped off prior to hitting the ground?
There is no reason for the grass landing. The plane crashed! There is no way in hell the pilot would intentionally land 300m short of the runway and only a few feet from the perimeter fence, narrowly missing the ILS equipment. The reason the plane landed on the grass is because the pilots were skilled/lucky enough to limp over the busy road and perimeter.
Even without brakes and reverse thrust , by the time the plane got to the other end of the runway (if it would even make it as 27L is a long runway), the speed it would go off the end of the runway, and the consequences of such, would be much less than landing at about 140 mph SHORT of the runway narrowly missing major pieces of equipment and the perimeter fence.
This could very easily have been a major disaster.