A look at McDonnell Douglas's MD-80 series
By Associated Press, 1/31/00
The Alaska Airlines jet that crashed off the Los Angeles coast was an MD-83, part of the MD-80 series aircraft built by McDonnell Douglas.
The MD-80, designed by McDonnell Douglas' commercial airframe division in Long Beach, Calif., is a twin-jet version of the more widely known DC-9, with a single aisle and an engine on each side of the tail.
The MD-80 went into service in 1980 and has had at least five variations that offer different ranges, seating capacities and cockpit electronics. The jetliners sold for $26 million in 1984 and have been flown by many airlines on short to medium trips.
The MD-80 series was almost solely responsible for returning the St. Louis-based McDonnell Douglas to profitability in 1985 after more than a decade of red ink.
In November 1997, the Boeing Co. announced it would phase out the MD-80 and MD-90 passenger aircraft models it inherited when it bought McDonnell Douglas.
On June 1, an American Airlines MD-82 crashed and ran off the runway in Little Rock, Ark., killing 11 people.
On Aug. 16, 1987, a Northwest Airlines MD-80 crashed on takeoff at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, killing 156.
The McDonnell Douglas MD-80. (Boeing photo)
