McDonnell Douglas MD-80

The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is an American twin turbofan, narrow-bodied, short to medium range airliner. It first flew on October 18, 1979, entering service in October 1980 with Swiss Air. It is designed to operate from short runways with less ground infrastructure.

Developed from the DC-9, it has a lengthened fuselage and high bypass turbofan engines. Manufactured in several variants; the MD-81 (first production model), MD-82 (more powerful Engines), MD-83 (longer range), MD-87 (shorten fuselage) and MD-88, same as -82 with digital flight instruments. In 2010 Aeronautical Engineers Inc. (AEI) began a freighter conversion program for the MD-80 series, designated MD-80SF. Production ended in 1999 with 1,191 built. Developed into the MD-90 and later the Boeing 717.

Airframe construction is mainly aluminium alloy with a semi-monocoque fuselage with built-in airstairs; the low mounted wings and T-tail assembly are of cantilever design with sweep back. The retractable undercarriage is a tricycle type mount to the wing roots, folding inwards into the fuselage; the steerable nose wheel retracts rearward. The flight crew consists of a pilot and copilot, and the passenger cabin typically seats 143 in two classes, 155 in one class.

The MD-80 is powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D is a low-bypass turbofan axial-flow engine mounted on pylons, one on each rear fuselage side. The MD-82 has a cruise speed of 830 km/h (516 mph), an 11,278 m (37,000 ft) service ceiling and a range of 3,800 km (2,361 mi).