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Old 23rd Mar 2009, 09:53
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WHBM
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
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What other aircraft has this continual history of cartwheeling and overturning on landing ?

It's notable that of the three somewhat-comparable widebody types that came along in the early to mid 1990s (MD-11, B777, A330), the latter two generally remain in front line service with their original purchasers, while the MD-11 was sold off prematurely by almost all of them. Very few of them remain in passenger service now, despite it being a modern design, and most have been sold off cheaply to cargo operators.

The public story is that the MD-11s were sold off, at some considerable financial loss to the original operators, because its efficiency didn't come up to expectations. But behind the scenes are many who quietly told their boards of directors that as a large-capacity passenger aircraft, with its poor handling capabilities on landing, it was a risk too far.
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