Lufthansa Cargo Freighter Crash Lands in Riyadh

A Lufthansa Cargo MD-11 freighter crash landed Tuesday as a fire broke out in the cargo compartment while the plane was on approach Riyadh airport in Saudi Arabia.

Authorities said the pilot and co-pilot escaped from the burning aircraft through an emergency slide and were being treated at a local hospital for what local authorities called "minor injuries." 

The plane was "severely damaged," Lufthansa said in a statement, before emergency crews extinguished the blaze. 

Lufthansa said in a statement the aircraft was carrying 80 metric tons of cargo on a flight from Frankfurt to Hong Kong with scheduled stops in Riyadh and Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates. . 

The fire apparently broke out in the cargo bay as the plane approached Riyadh's King Khaled International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh shortly before noon.

The pilot and co-pilot were taken to hospital and the prognosis for both are good, according to the German carrier. There were no casualties on the ground.

Lufthansa said the plane was a former Alitalia passenger aircraft built in 1993 and converted to freighter configuration for Lufthansa in 2004. It had gone through routine maintenance just before the flight from Frankfurt and had its last comprehensive maintenance, known as a C-check, in June 2009. 

Lufthansa Cargo has a fleet of 19 MD-11s, including two in storage.

--Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.