How many engines supposedly failed? It should have been ok with 3 engines.
Having one engine lose power still leaves the plane flyable.
There are dozens of things that could have happened to cause that loss of power which would make the plane NOT flyable.
Can’t they fly on one engine?
Even 2 engines should have been OK if it wan’t heavily loaded - the plane is generally considered to be “overpowered” and almost impossible to overload due to the limited cargo space for the “oomph” the engines put out. Their strength and power are one of the reasons they make good “hurricane hunters”...probably maintenance issues....