Originally Posted by
airplanegod
I have to laugh at people both on this forum post, and on other websites (Aviation Herald, airliners.net, Facebook etc) are saying this is because it is a 30 year old MD88. First, there is no evidence to suggest the plane had any issues or contributed to this incident. The MD80 is a fantastic, reliable, and comfortable (in my perspective with the 2x3 seating in back) aircraft that has an incredible safety record considering the number of flights they do each day and the fact they are still flying perfectly fine (with proper maintenance) and if it wasn't for the high fuel costs they could still be flying years down the road.
While I agree that the airplane is safe, it's hard to argue against 30+ years of engineering enhancements that could be used to improve safety. The MD80 might not have faulted and caused the incident, but it also didn't actively prevent it. Compare a modern car with lane departure assist, ABS, automatic collision avoidance, brake force distribution etc. to one built in the 70's. Both are generally safe when operated by professionals in a well regulated environment, but one would assume a modern aircraft is safer from this perspective.