McDonnell Douglas DC-10

DC-10 / MD-10
A DC-10-30 of Continental Airlines
General information
Type	Wide-body airliner
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	McDonnell Douglas
Status	In limited non-passenger service
Primary users	FedEx Express (historical) American Airlines (historical) United Airlines (historical) Northwest Airlines (historical)
Number built	386[1]
History
Manufactured	1969–1989
Introduction date	August 5, 1971, with American Airlines
First flight	August 29, 1970; 54 years ago (1970-08-29)
Retired	2014 (passenger service)
Variants	McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender DC-10 Air Tanker
Developed into	McDonnell Douglas MD-11

The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971, by American Airlines.

The trijet has two turbofans on underwing pylons and a third one at the base of the vertical stabilizer. The twin-aisle layout has a typical seating for 270 in two classes. The initial DC-10-10 had a 3,500-nautical-mile [nmi] (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) range for transcontinental flights. The DC-10-15 had more powerful engines for hot and high airports. The DC-10-30 and –40 models (with a third main landing gear leg to support higher weights) each had intercontinental ranges of up to 5,200 nmi (9,600 km; 6,000 mi). The KC-10 Extender (based on the DC-10-30) is a tanker aircraft that was primarily operated by the United States Air Force.

Early operations of the DC-10 were afflicted by its poor safety record, which was partially attributable to a design flaw in the original cargo doors that caused multiple incidents, including fatalities. Most notable was the crash of Turkish Airlines Flight 981 in Paris in 1974, the deadliest crash in aviation history up to that time. Following the crash of American Airlines Flight 191, the deadliest aviation accident in U.S. history, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily banned all DC-10s from American airspace in June 1979. In August 1983, McDonnell Douglas announced that production would end due to a lack of orders, as it had widespread public apprehension after the 1979 crash and a poor fuel economy reputation.^[2] As design flaws were rectified and fleet hours increased, the DC-10 achieved a long-term safety record comparable to those of similar-era passenger jets.

The DC-10 outsold the similar Lockheed L-1011 TriStar due to the latter's delayed introduction and high cost. Production of the DC-10 ended in 1989, with 386 delivered to airlines along with 60 KC-10 tankers. It was succeeded by the lengthened, heavier McDonnell Douglas MD-11. After merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, Boeing upgraded many in-service DC-10s as the MD-10 with a glass cockpit that eliminated the need for a flight engineer. In February 2014, the DC-10 made its last commercial passenger flight. Cargo airlines continued to operate a small number as freighters. The Orbis Flying Eye Hospital is a DC-10 adapted for eye surgery. A few DC-10s have been converted for aerial firefighting use. Some DC-10s are on display, while other retired aircraft are in storage.