DC-10, End of an era

[Nicola_M]

Saw this article about the DC-10 being retired, and thought it might be of interest.

 

"Remembering the DC-10: End of an era or good riddance?

The DC-10, which makes its final passenger flight later, has been labelled a "death trap", hailed as a "workhorse" and even immortalised in a Clash song.
For some, the controversial aircraft's last landing at Birmingham Airport will mark the end of an era in consumer aviation. But how will the rest of the world remember it?
First put into service in 1971, the American-made "trijet" was one of several aircraft credited with shaping modern air travel.
But its early history was marred by several high-profile crashes as the result of a fatal design flaw.

'Horrific accidents'
A new, outward-opening cargo door did not latch properly, leaving the cabin prone to depressurising.
In 1974, a Turkish Airlines DC-10 crashed 10 minutes after taking off from Paris, killing 346 people. Modifications to all DC-10 cargo doors were ordered by the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA)
On 25 May 1979, 271 people died when an American Airlines DC-10 crashed on its way to Chicago. A short-cut maintenance procedure which damaged hydraulic lines was identified as the cause.
Six days later, the plane's poor safety reputation led the FAA to temporarily ground the aircraft while manufacturer McDonnell Douglas addressed issues with the plane's design.
Even after it returned to the air, there were other high-profile incidents involving the DC-10.

A Fedex employee attempted to hijack one of the company's cargo planes in 1994 while a French flight was blown up by terrorists over the Sahara desert in September 1989, killing 170 people.
In total there have been 53 serious incidents - not all fatal - involving the aircraft.
But the DC-10 has, until this week, continued to be used to carry passengers, and, in one case, been repurposed as an airborne operating theatre. It also remains popular as a cargo plane.

Its expensive three-engine design has seen it gradually disappear from passenger fleets, with the USA's Northwest Airlines, which dropped the DC-10 in 2007, the last major company to use the plane.
    
A brief history of the DC-10

    1971 - The first DC-10s enter service
    June 1972 - Problems with the planes' cargo doors are identified after a depressurised cabin forces an emergency landing near Detroit
    March 1974 - A Turkish Airlines DC-10 bound for London crashes 10 minutes after taking off from Paris, killing 346 people
    May 1979 - A crash involving an American Airlines DC-10 kills all 271 people on board - the deadliest accidental plane crash on US soil
    6 June 1979 - The Federal Aviation Authority grounds all DC-10 aircraft
    13 July 1979 - DC-10s are allowed back into service by the FAA, which orders a number of fixes to the aircrafts' design
    1990 - McDonnell-Douglas begins to roll out MD-11 aircraft to replace the DC-10
    2014 - Biman Bangladesh, the last commercial operator using the planes, announces it will retire them

Biman Bangladesh Airlines - the only commercial carrier still using the DC-10 - will replace its remaining aircraft with a more fuel-efficient Boeing 777.
It made a final international journey from Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Thursday, and will carry passengers for the final time on a one-hour pleasure flight at 15:00 GMT.
Plane enthusiast Gordon Stretch, from Solihull, travelled to Dhaka to travel on the Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight.
He pointed out that, of 446 DC-10 aircraft built, a relatively small number were involved in fatal crashes.
"There have been high-profile crashes for every type of aircraft," he said.
"They only built 20 Concordes and one of those crashed.
"I wouldn't say the DC-10 was an unsafe aircraft, there was a specific problem and the maintenance procedures at the time weren't up to speed.
"Sadly these things do happen and the only way is to learn from that."

Aviation expert Chris Yates agreed the DC-10 may have been unfairly maligned by some and too much focus placed on high-profile crashes.
"There were some pretty horrific accidents a number of years ago and ultimately it was grounded for a while," he said.
"But then it got back in the air and it was all go really."
Some say the DC-10, which was capable of carrying 250 to 380 passengers, paved the way for mass long-haul air travel.

Radio 2 presenter Janice Long worked as an air stewardess for British airline Laker Airways, whose flamboyant chairman Sir Freddie Laker introduced the DC-10 to Europe.
Laker Airways DC-10 Laker Airways was the first British and European airline to use the DC-10
She remembers a luxurious plane where passengers had their every need attended to.
"It had a bad press at the time but I had just turned 19 when I started on the DC-10 so I had no fear," she said.
"It was fantastic; there were 345 passengers and 10 stewardesses.
"For a girl from Bootle who had never been abroad to suddenly be flying on this huge plane was just amazing."
"Laker was bringing flying to the masses, you just bought your ticket and got on the plane.
"The passengers got everything, breakfast, lunch and liqueurs and they didn't pay any extra for it."

Long is not the only person who remembers the DC-10 fondly.

When the plane made its last international flight on Thursday, dozens of enthusiasts turned up at Birmingham Airport to watch its final landing.
University Student Nicholas Chiu, 21, originally from Hong Kong, travelled from Edinburgh.
"It's the last scheduled flight, so that's historic," he said.
"I remember this plane used to fly out of Hong Kong a lot. I last flew on one a few years ago and I didn't want to miss the last chance to see it."

Airline operations manager Rob Edson, 34, also turned up in the hope of spotting the DC-10.
"I thought it was worth coming to see it," he said.
"It's another old [aircraft] type disappearing to be replaced with a modern one.
"It's sad that they're going; they've got a bit more character than the new ones."

Gordon Stretch said he hoped the DC-10 would be remembered as paving the way for modern distance flight.
"It's an airliner of the first age of long-haul travel," he said.

Chris Yates said, despite its history, he believed the DC-10 would leave behind a "hell of a legacy".
"It was one of the big jets which did essentially open up long haul markets to the masses," he said.
"Without them I guess we'd be a lot further back than we are now."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-26259236

[Tonka]

Apparently one or two of the passengers on that last flight or two were glad to land. The old girl was showing her age some what!

[Nicola_M]

I dunno why, but I think (here in the UK) I've rarely heard it referred to as the DC-10, the media seem to call anything with three engines a Tri-Star. 

Despite its bad luck at the start, it's definitely an aviation icon, in my book.

Edited February 24, 2014 by Nicola_M

[eaglewing7]

There are still a few of them flying around Canada, not in passenger service, but hauling cargo.  I hear one go over our house some nights, and it is very obvious when it is a DC-10, because it is LOUD.

 

The same goes for the 727's, you always know when they are climbing out of Vancouver, because they are quite loud and have a very distinctive sound.

[Nicola_M]

That's the one thing I will miss when all these old jets with character bite the dust.  I live on the flightpath near Stansted and I rarely hear the modern jets coming over.  Occasionally, late at night, I do hear one of the older ones go over but usually in darkness so no idea what it is.

 

We will one day only notice airliners when we see them in the sky, rather than hear them first.

[Tonka]

I think the US Air Force still have some private contractors using them for refuelling too don't they?

 

I'm sure we all have memories of REALLY LOUD old, proper jets. For me it was an RAF VC10 taking off at Heathrow after collecting some fuel. Concorde took off shortly afterwards, and honestly, there was not much difference between them volume wise. The VC10 produced a lot more black smoke though.

 

You've gotta get Flight Radar 24 on your phone, if you have a smart phone, Nicola. I love hearing or seeing something cruising along and being able to find out what it is, and where it's going.

[MercuryMat]

Wow...my very first flight was on a DC-10 (i think it was that plane...) ok KLM travelling from Milano Malpensa to Amsterdam...in late 80s but at that time i was too little to know the history of this plane!

Sent from Mad iPad's Tapatalk

[Tsetsoh]

I think the US Air Force still have some private contractors using them for refuelling too don't they?

 

The USAF is currently using the KC-10 (military version of the DC-10) as their primary refueling tanker.  They do not have a new tanker in the works, but would like to replace the old KC-10.  Some current news HERE.

[Tonka]

The USAF is currently using the KC-10 (military version of the DC-10) as their primary refueling tanker.  They do not have a new tanker in the works, but would like to replace the old KC-10.  Some current news HERE.

 

Omega was the contractor i was thinking of. Their aircraft still have passenger windows, so maybe they're the last flying DC-10's that a passenger can travel on?

[Peter T.]

i don't think theres anymore passenger flights on the dc-10, now its used for cargo/freight, fedex still operates 60 DC-10, 45 of which is the DC-10-10 variant, and 15 DC-10-30 variants...

[Andyrooc]

I loved the DC-10. I think it was probably one of the biggest jets about when I was a kid.

 

Unfortunately, in NZ it is remembered for a horrific accident when Air NZ 901 flew into Mt Erebus in the Antarctica in 1979 killing all 257 people on board. It was nothing to do with the aircraft though, and nobody blamed it. Even the crew were cleared of wrong doing.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_New_Zealand_Flight_901

[Tsetsoh]

Omega was the contractor i was thinking of. Their aircraft still have passenger windows, so maybe they're the last flying DC-10's that a passenger can travel on?

 

Omega provided some air-refueling service to the US Navy for a while, not the Air Force.  News on that HERE.  I believe that Omega is still providing support to a few other nations but not to the US.

[Jim Kallinen]

Remember the Sioux City crash like it was Yesterday. One of the worst crashes ever up here in the midwest. Some of the survival stories from were quite amazing in themselves.

[sqrt(-1)]

Ah yes, United 232...  I was supposed to be on that flight.  My connection was late.

 

Not a stroke of luck I'll soon forget.  Still gives my wife and I the shivers...