Douglas DC-9-10 (N786NC)

The good old times.

"NC" tail numbers originally belonged to North Central airlines. Absorbed by Republic. My guess is the DC-9-10 shown is now beer cans.

Not a DC9-10. Notice 2 overwing exits. It's a DC9-51. Fairly rare. OnlY operators I recall were NC, NW (after 1986 acquisition of NC) and Eastern. All gone. However, FlightAware reg info suggests N786NC may have been flying for DL as recently as 2016 - DL, of course, having acquired NW. The photo shows the aircraft in classic NW colors. Side note: Republic was result of the merger of North Central, Southern, and Hughes Airwest -- all operators of large DC9 fleets.

One correction to my prior post: In 1986, NW acquired Republic, of which NC was a part.

This Aircraft N786NC was last flown Commercially on January 6, 2014. Was then moved to Blythe, CA on January 10, 2014. Where it is currently "STILL COMPLETE" in Storage.

Yep, the good ol' days. We used a big fork lift and a belt loader to work off. Three guys and 10 hours. ORD cargo ramp.

I remember reading about the infamous upside-down crash of the DC-10 at O'Hare being caused by maintenance personnel using a forklift to remove and re-install the wing engines... ? Were forklifts ever really part of the proper, normal routine maintenance procedures on the DC-9?

Kevvin, Changing engines with a fork lift is done routinely when overhead cranes are not available in a hangar environment. The airplane you mention was using a procedure that was not approved. Load cells, proper engine sling and forklift, no problem!

I retired from Northwest Airlines in '05. While I worked in Intermediate Maint. at MSP and DTW we still used a forklift (with load cell and correct sling)for engine changes. With a good forklift driver and an experienced crew we could easily complete an engine change in one shift and have it out of the hangar and ready for run up & trim.

Thanks for clarifying!

The photo was interesting.

The conversation that ensued is an outstanding history. Thank you all.

Regarding the DC-10 accident out of ORD, it was not the use of a forklift that was the issue. The MTC staff were removing the whole pylon from the wing with the engine attached because it was faster and easier then removing the engine from the pylon. It was a workaround that was not approved by McDonald Douglas.

Actually enjoyed the follow-up postings better than the fantastic photograph. Great!!!!

This is definitely a -51... That's quite obvious from the pic.

hammondc2: FlightAware shows the last flight as being January 6, 2014 (not 2016) - which is correct. The last revenue flight for this bird was from HSV to ATL on 01/06/2014 and it was ferried to BYH for storage (scrapping) on 01/10/2014.