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Old 31st May 2010, 14:47
  #11 (permalink)  
q100
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
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I've been avoiding weighing in, but here goes. Read the accident reports.

Yes there have been seven hull losses.

Swissair - improperly installed aftermarket IFE system with no way to shut it off...

Korean - Captain decided to put aircraft into a low-level, steep dive when he got confused over feet vs. meters (at a time when KAL was writing off 1 widebody per year)

FedEx over-run Subic Bay - surely you can't be serious about blaming the design.

Avient Shanghai - No official report yet but those in the know would tell you the design was probably not a factor (ask yourself why an aircraft would fail to get airborne on takeoff roll on 13,000' runway...).

That leaves the 3 roll-overs. Again, read the reports. I'll give you this though - The MD-11 is demanding and not terribly forgiving. She has a high wing loading and high approach speed and must be flown by the book. She does not like rough handling, and a bad or unstable approach is probably best salvaged by going around. The fact that the wing broke when design loads were exceed is not good - witness the BA 777 that glided into LHR for a better failure mode. However, if you want to be truly informed, read the reports find out why the design loads were exceeded. That said, of the three rollovers, including one aircraft full of passengers, there have been 5 fatalities. Douglas always did build robust machines...
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