McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Trivia Quiz

Answer: American Airlines

The DC-10 was the first commercial aircraft designed after the merger of the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. On its own, Douglas had tremendous success in commercial aviation, with the prop-driven DC-3 and the jet-powered DC-8. McDonnell had more success in space, as the designer of the Mercury and Gemini space capsules. American ordered 25 of the first series of DC-10 aircraft, and made the inaugural commercial flight--a round trip between Los Angeles and Chicago--on August 5, 1971.

Answer: 380

The DC-10 was known as a widebody aircraft, boasting a fuselage width of 19 feet, 9 inches (6.02 meters) and an interior width of 18 feet, 2 inches (5.54 meters). The interior featured two aisles for maximum maneuverability for passengers and flight crew.

The Series 30 variant, operated by intercontinental carriers like Lufthansa and KLM, was capable of transporting passengers a distance of 5,900 miles (9,493 kilometers).

Answer: Alitalia

Over the years, FedEx has made extensive use of the DC-10 and its successor, the MD-11F, to ferry cargo around the world. Other carriers, like Martinair and World Airways, have also used DC-10s for cargo-carrying operations, either from native all-freighter versions or from passenger jets converted to carry cargo.

Answer: Paris

Turkish Airlines Flight 281 experienced a blowout of its cargo doors during takeoff from Orly Airport. The plane went down in a forest in the suburb of Ermenonville, killing all 333 passengers and 13 crew on board. The cargo door problem was not a new one--an American Airlines flight experienced a similar emergency after taking off from Detroit in June, 1972, and made a successful emergency landing--but the fixes to reinforce the locks on the doors were not mandatory at the time.

The crash was the worst aviation disaster in history prior to the Tenerife Disaster in March, 1977.

Answer: Sioux City, Iowa

On the first leg of the DC-10's flight from Denver to Philadelphia, the number-two engine, which is set in the tail, experienced shattering of the fan disk. The shrapnel severed the hydraulic lines of the aircraft, rendering its control surfaces, and the number-two engine, useless. Using only the thrust levers of the surviving two engines, the crew managed to get the plane to Sioux City, only to crash on the runway during landing.

A total of 110 passengers (out of 285) and 1 crew member (out of 11) died in the crash.

The late Charlton Heston starred as Flight 232's captain, Al Haynes, in a 1992 made-for-TV movie about the crash.

Answer: Continental

The stray piece of titanium punctured a tire on the Concorde, sparking a fire in the fuel tanks which led to shutdown of two of the aircraft's four engines. All 100 passengers, all nine crew, and four people on the ground were killed as the Concorde could not stay in the air.

The metal had been part of the thrust reverser assembly on a DC-10 bound from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris to what is now George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

Answer: 1981

The KC-10 could carry up to 356,000 pounds (160,200 kilograms) of fuel, a load twice as heavy as the older Boeing KC-135 Jet Stratotanker. The fuel boom could transfer fuel to other aircraft at a rate of 1,100 gallons (4,180 liters). It could also be used as a cargo aircraft, capable of carrying a maximum payload of 170,000 pounds (76,560 kilograms) from 27 pallet positions, and as a transport aircraft that could carry a maximum of 75 passengers.

Answer: A flying eye hospital

The DC-10 Series 10 that ORBIS International converted to use as a flying eye hospital replaced an aging Douglas DC-8 for which parts were becoming more expensive and harder to come by. The aircraft contains facilities to allow for eye operations, as well as a 48-seat classroom and audio-visual laborator.

In 2008, United Airlines and FedEx announced it would donate a newer DC-10 Series 30 Freighter aircraft to replace the older DC-10.

Answer: 12,000 U.S. gallons (45,425 liters)

The entire fire-fighting payload of the modified DC-10 could be released from tanks on the aircraft's centerline in just eight seconds. The number of drops made by the aircraft was dependent on how quickly the aircraft's tanks could be refilled and by the proximity of a major airfield that could support the aircraft.

The California Department of Forestry first made use of the aircraft on a contract basis in July, 2006, to fight fires burning in the Sawtooth Complex in San Bernardino County, which is where 10 Tanker Air Carrier, LLC, is based.

Answer: Honolulu

Despite the problems that plagued the DC-10, it became one of the safest and most reliable aircraft to ever fly. A total of 446 aircraft--386 for civilian use and 60 KC-10 Extenders for the US Air Force--were built between 1968 and 1988. The last DC-10 was delivered to Nigeria Airways in 1989.