Aircraft / McDonnell Douglas DC-9

May 26, 2024
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Douglas DC-9 in livery of BoraJet, shown in side view.

The Douglas DC-9 - after August 1967 called the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 - is a five-abreast, twin-engine, medium range narrow-body jet airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which was originally headquartered in Santa Monica, California USA, then relocated to Long Beach, California USA. In 1967 the Douglas Aircraft Company merged with St Louis-based McDonnell Aircraft Corporation to become McDonnell Douglas Corporation.

After the successful introduction of its first jetliner, the Douglas DC-8 Series, in 1959, Douglas became interested in producing a suitable aircraft to be used on shorter and thinner routes. Design studies were conducted from around 1958, and approval for the Douglas DC-9, a smaller clean-sheet jetliner, came in April 1963. The first variant, the DC-9-10, entered service in December 1965 with Delta Air Lines.

The type’s most popular variant, the Douglas DC-9-30, entered service in February 1967. McDonnell Douglas ultimately ceased production of the original DC-9 series of aircraft in 1982 after producing 976 units - of which 662 were DC-9-30s - and switched production over to the newer generation McDonnell Douglas MD-80. Later generation models were produced in succeeding years including the McDonnell Douglas MD-90 and Boeing 717.

The last known passenger flight operated by a DC-9 took place on 6 January 2014. About 30 DC-9 freighters remain in service - including 20 with the Mexico cargo airline Aeronaves TSM - while the last known passenger version was an African Express Airways DC-9-30 recently placed into storage.

Reference: Wikipedia.

Stats

Stats displayed are for the Douglas DC-9-30 twin engine jet aircraft.

  • Name: Douglas DC-9-30

  • Origin: Long Beach, California USA

  • Role: Two Engine Narrow-body Jet Airliner

  • First Introduction: 19 December 1966

  • Status: Out of Production; In Limited Service

  • Cockpit Crew: Two

  • Seating: 115-127

  • Engines: 2 x Pratt & Whitney JT8D

  • Cruise Speed: 484 knots (897 km/h; 557 mph)

  • Range: 1500 nmi (2800 km; 1700 mi)