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.
An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until all such persons have disembarked, and in which (a) a person is fatally or seriously injured, (b) the aircraft sustains significant damage or structural failure, or (c) the aircraft goes missing or becomes completely inaccessible. Annex 13 defines an aviation incident as an occurrence, other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft that affects or could affect the safety of operation.
Turkish Airlines Flight 981 (TK981/THY981) was a scheduled flight from Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport to London Heathrow Airport, with an intermediate stop at Orly Airport in Paris. On 3 March 1974, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operating the flight crashed into the Ermenonville Forest, 37.76 kilometres (23.46 mi) outside Paris, killing all 335 passengers, and 11 crew on board. The crash was also known as the Ermenonville air disaster. Flight 981 was the deadliest plane crash in aviation history until 27 March 1977, when 583 people died in the Tenerife airport disaster. It remains the deadliest single-aircraft accident without survivors, the second hull loss and the deadliest accident involving the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, and the deadliest aviation accident to occur in France.
American Airlines Flight 1420 was a flight from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Little Rock National Airport in the United States. On June 1, 1999, the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 operating as Flight 1420 overran the runway upon landing in Little Rock and crashed. Nine of the 145 people aboard were immediately killed—the captain and eight passengers.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1977.
On August 16, 1987, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, operating as Northwest Airlines Flight 255, crashed shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, about 8:46 pm EDT, resulting in the deaths of all six crew members and 148 of the 149 passengers, along with two people on the ground. The sole survivor was a 4-year-old girl who sustained serious injuries. It was the second-deadliest aviation accident at the time in the United States. It is also the deadliest aviation accident to have a sole survivor, the deadliest plane crash in the history of the state of Michigan, and the worst crash in the history of Northwest Airlines.
American Airlines Flight 96 (AA96/AAL96) was a regular domestic flight operated by American Airlines from Los Angeles to New York via Detroit and Buffalo. On June 12, 1972, the left rear cargo door of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 operating the flight blew open and broke off en route between Detroit and Buffalo above Windsor, Ontario; the accident is thus sometimes referred to as the Windsor incident, although according to the NTSB it is an accident, not an incident.
Aero Flight 311, often referred to as the Kvevlax air disaster, was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Aero O/Y between Kronoby and Vaasa in Finland. The aircraft, a Douglas DC-3, crashed in the municipality Kvevlax, nowadays part of Korsholm on 3 January 1961, killing all twenty-five people on board. The disaster remains the deadliest aviation accident in Finnish history. The investigation revealed that both pilots were intoxicated and should not have been flying.
The 1990 Wayne County Airport runway collision involved the collision of two Northwest Airlines jetliners at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport on December 3, 1990. Flight 1482, a scheduled Douglas DC-9-14 operating from Detroit to Pittsburgh International Airport, taxied by mistake onto an active runway in dense fog and was hit by a departing Boeing 727 operating as Flight 299 to Memphis International Airport. One member of the crew and seven passengers of the DC-9 were killed.
On July 28, 1943 American Airlines Flight 63 was flown by a Douglas DC-3, named Flagship Ohio, routing Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati-Louisville-Nashville-Memphis, that crashed on the Louisville-Nashville sector about 1.6 miles (2.6 km) west of Trammel, Kentucky. The aircraft descended from 200 feet (61 m) until it struck trees, then slid across an open field and stopped in an upright position. Of the 22 people on board, 20 died. The cause of the crash was loss of control due to severe turbulence and violent downdrafts.
American Airlines Flight 63 was an American Airlines DC-3 nicknamed the Flagship Missouri that crashed on October 15, 1943, near Centerville, Tennessee, after ice formed on its wings and propeller. All eight passengers and three crewmembers died. This was the second fatal crash of an aircraft designated Flight 63, occurring 2+1⁄2 months after the crash of the Flagship Missouri’s sister ship, the Flagship Ohio.
Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216 was a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 that overran the runway at La Aurora International Airport, Guatemala City, on 21 December 1999. 8 passengers and 8 crew members on board were killed as well as 2 people on the ground.
Varig Flight 810 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Rio de Janeiro to Los Angeles with stopovers in Lima, Bogotá, Panama City, and Mexico City. On 27 November 1962 the Boeing 707-441 operating the route crashed into a mountain on approach to Lima, killing all 97 passengers and crew. At the time it was the deadliest aviation accident in Peru until being surpassed by LANSA Flight 502 in 1971 and later Faucett Perú Flight 251 in 1996.
American Airlines Flight 6-103 was a transcontinental flight from New York City to San Diego, with intermediate stops in Nashville, Dallas, El Paso, and Tucson. At 8:12 a.m. PST on the morning of March 3, 1946, the Douglas DC-3 operating the flight crashed into the slope of Thing Mountain, California, during its final leg from El Paso to San Diego. All 27 occupants on board were killed, including 3 crew and 22 passengers and 2 infants.
