A Lufthansa cargo jet crashed this week because its wheels were destroyed in the landing process, Saudi Arabian authorities said Saturday in a preliminary report, dpa reported.
The plane had crashed on Tuesday at King Khaled International Airport, slightly injuring the pilot and co-pilot and causing extensive damage to the hull of the plane and the cargo it carried.
The wheels suffered severe damage when they hit the runway, which caused a fire on board, according to Abdel Rahim Bukhairy, a safety official for the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation.
On the day of the crash, a spokesman for the agency, Khaled Al- Khaibari, had said the pilots radioed for help before the plane touched down.
The broadcaster al-Arabiya had also reported that black smoke came from the plane as it started to descend over Riyadh before crashing.
Photos posted on the website of the al-Riyadh newspaper appeared to show that most of the damage was inflicted on the back of the plane at the roof of the hull.
The MD-11 cargo plane was arriving from Frankfurt.