Originally Posted by
downdata
Even after knowing the DC10 had a design fault wrt to the cargo door, it didnt stop the ground crew of TK981 to not lock the damn cargo door that killed 300 odd people. There must have been tens of thousands of t/os and landings on the DC10 without incidents between AA96 and TK981.
That's rather unfair, the baggage handler in that case did what he had been told to do, close the door and press the lock motor button for a set time. He didn't read English and couldn't read the new notice stating to check the lock mechanism alignment marks through the peephole in the door. The person who had been trained on these new instructions was senior to him but was not present that day. This aircraft also had its door microswitch shimmed in the wrong direction, it showed closed on the FE's panel even with the locking mechanism in an unsafe condition.
No this doesn't relate to a 73 Max crash, but blaming the wrong party is never good.