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Last MD-11 ever built says goodbye to the skies

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The last McDonnell Douglas MD-11 ever built was retired. The three-engine aircraft rolled out of the final assembly line in 2001, marking the end of the production of the aircraft. Lufthansa was the last customer for the MD-11 at that time. The youngest MD-11F with registration D-ALCN, carried out its last flight this week. Lufthansa was certainly not happy when Boeing, the new owner of McDonnell Douglas, decided to stop the production of the aircraft in favor of the Boeing 777. Nonetheless, the… (airlinerwatch.com) More...

Kobe Hunte
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EliteAirInc
EliteAirInc 12
What a great aircraft that will be missed.
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KobeHunte
Kobe Hunte 7
I agree. I wish they could of continued building these.
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sparkie624
sparkie624 6
Doesn't Fed-Ex still fly the MD11's?
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DNAIR
Dick Nieuwendyk 5
Yes - they still do. Also the MD-10-30.
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Quidnon
Quidnon 2
Still have the MD-10-10s too.
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mattbna
mattbna 2
UPS still operates around 37 MD-11 frames, and FedEx still has around 56 of them in service. They have grounded over 50 of their oldest MD-10's in the past year or two (still around 30 in service), but they've only parked a few MD-11's (around 10-12).

I was at MEM two days ago and watched MD-11's depart one after another during the afternoon push.
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bdarnell
bdarnell 1
They still do, but they are getting scarce. There used to be a bunch of them here at the hub at KIND, but last time I looked, there were only a few.
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sparkie624
sparkie624 2
I remember.... Taxing A CFJ to the Hangar during a FED-EX push was quite interesting... Tons and Ton's of MD10's and 11's and a lot of everything else.
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KobeHunte
Kobe Hunte 1
If not still very recently..
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DNAIR
Dick Nieuwendyk 7
Sad to see this aircraft go. I have taken flights with this aircraft many times - one of the most comfortable planes to be on.
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soupy264
soupy264 3
I wonder if it will be sold to USAF and become a KC-10.
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jbsimms
James Simms 1
Maybe but I doubt it. My understanding the USAF wanted to drop them 5-6 years ago (although I think they’re safe for now as major upgrades were recently implemented). I suppose never say never.
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soupy264
soupy264 1
My Bad, I believe the KC-10's are DC-10's I guess a fighter crew chief should be quiet. LOL
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scottbrown5271
Scott Brown 3
There is a youtube video of two plots,one German and one Dutch, on one of their last flights on sister ship D-ALCM. Great cockpit video, atc audio, etc., with lots of remorse during the flight over the loss of their beloved 11...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzsGG-SPkVs
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ADXbear
ADXbear 2
The death if yet another widebody.... she will be missed..
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bingoair
Markus Wolff 2
My pop, Ziggy, took me to KLGB to see the 1st ones fly, our neighbor riveted the skins.
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Quirkyfrog
Robert Cowling 3
For freight carriers, I'm sure the MD-11 had benefits over the 777, but you have to dance to the tune that is playing, or find another venue.

I liked the 11, from a passenger point of view because it was 'BIG', but I never had to sit in a middle of the middle seat for a 6 hour flight. I have had to fly in a trans-Atlantic flight on a 777 with a broken seat, and a 'flood' in the lav. YUCK!!!
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turfgal2003
k l 1
They remind me of 727-100 and 727-200. You can see the UPS and FedEx at KCLE I mean MD-11.
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jbsimms
James Simms 1
Sad
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MSUSparty
MSU Sparty 1
Tough aircraft on a crosswind but it hauled a lot of tonnage a long way
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captpentland
captpentland 1
Read 'Destination Disaster.'
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E1craZ4life
Edward Bardes 1
By Paul Eddy?
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dlfehmel
Doug Fehmel 1
I've got a replica of same airplane from herpa Wings. I think that my little diecast is at least 10 years old.
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[This comment has been downvoted. Show anyway.]

E1craZ4life
Edward Bardes 4
Only one MD-11 accident killed more than 10 people, and that accident had nothing to do with the aircraft design.
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sho69607
Spencer Hoefer 2
Exactly. After the issues with the early model DC-10's were fixed, it was a safe aircraft. The MD11 had its own issues when it was released, but no major design flaws other than the center of gravity problems which were fixed years after most airlines had gave up on the aircraft. Most of the issues pertaining to the MD11 incidents were related to pilot error and/or poor training.
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williambaker08
william baker 1
American Airlines 191 DC-10 that killed 273 people and the turkish airlines DC-10 that killed a further 346 people. How can you say that only one md-11 killed more then 10 people when if im not mistaken there were several crashes involving the Md-11 one notable one was Swiss air 111 which killed 229 persons on board there was also Korean Air 6316 which killed 8 people, Fedex flight 80 has 2 fatalities Avient Aviation had 3 killed on an MD-11. I mean the list goes on and on.
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E1craZ4life
Edward Bardes 1
Even with the DC-10's accident history, its safety record is comparable to most commercial planes. All but one MD-11 accident killed fewer than 10 people, (that one being Swissair 111) so one could argue that it's actually safer than most commercial aircraft.
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VFRMAN
G Aldridge 1
AA191 was caused by AA maintenance skipping several important steps to save time in changing the outboard engine pylon bearings. Other airlines that followed McD's procedure did not incur cracks in the pylons.
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williambaker08
william baker 0
And Swiss air was caused by faulty design because they didnt simply install an off switch for the Entertainment system which overheated and caused the fire.
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E1craZ4life
Edward Bardes 3
That was an addition to the aircraft, not a fault with the aircraft itself.
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williambaker08
william baker -1
It was still an Aircraft design even thou it was an addition to the plane added later one. its just like adding new fuel tanks for a plane to give it further distance. Thats still designed and added to aircrafts later on in flight.
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E1craZ4life
Edward Bardes 2
If it could've happened on a different type of airplane, then it's not automatically a design flaw.
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