McDonnell Douglas DC-10

The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner that first flew on August 29, 1970, entering service on August 5, 1971, with American Airlines. The DC-10 suffered a poor safety record early in service, mainly due to a design flaw with the cargo doors. Produced in several variants: the initial DC-10-10, a domestic model, the improved -15, and transcontinental models the -30 and -40. The KC-10 Extender air-to-air refuelling tanker for the United States Air Force (USAF) used the DC-10-30 airframe. Production of the DC-10 ended in 1989, with 386 DC-10s and 60 KC-10s built, withdrawn from passenger service by early 2014; freighter versions continued to operate.

The airframe is mostly an aluminium alloy structure with a semi-monocoque fuselage and low mounted cantilever wings, swept-back and tapered. The tail assembly is a conventional single-fin layout. The retractable undercarriage is a tricycle type with the primary units mount in the wings, folding inwards into the fuselage; the nose unit retracts forward. The -30 and -40 series have an additional unit installed and folding into the fuselage centre. It has a flight crew of three, two pilots and a flight engineer with seating for up to 380 passengers.

It is powered by three General Electric CF6 high-bypass turbofan engines, one pod mounted under each wing and the third atop the fuselage’s rear, under the vertical fin. The DC-10-30 has a cruise speed of 876 km/h (544 mph) with a service altitude of 12,800 m (42,000 ft) with a range of 9,600 km (5,965 mi).