Absolutely, if I threw a plate in the air I might ask where it landed, on the roof or on the floor, I might follow that by asking in how many pieces did it land.

I've spoken fluent Commonwealth English in Australia and across multiple countries for > 6 decades .. what flavour of English do you speak ?

Addendum: By way of example:

    The incident comes roughly a year after another similar Chinese rocket fell to Earth, landing in the Atlantic Ocean but not before it reportedly left a trail of debris in the African nation of Cote D'Ivoire.

as written by: Steven Freeland Professorial Fellow, Bond University / Emeritus Professor of International Law, Western Sydney University, Western Sydney University

https://theconversation.com/a-giant-piece-of-space-junk-is-h...

Dunno 'bout you but I reckon an Emeritus Professor of International Law from a Commonwealth country might not be too shabby at the olde mother tongue?

FFS don't go all Webster, Strunk & White on us now .. #NotMyEngrish

In the context of “space debris” the word “lands” does not imply a non-catastrophic settling in a new position.

That headline landed with me.

> If you dropped a plate and it broke into a million pieces, would you say “the plate landed on the floor”?

Yes.

Yes, that is a typical use of the word. "Damn, I dropped the plate and it landed on the tile floor, not the soft rug." All I can say is that "land" as a verb does not in my experience (including my work in aerospace industry) imply a controlled touchdown.

Q: How'd you break your toe?

A: I dropped my sofa while moving it and it landed on my foot.