Back on topic, the DHC-8, and even the DHC-8-400 still has a much better safety record than the competition (ATR42/72)


As for the DC-10..... Let's do some research here for DC-10 accidents during the 70s

1974/Mar: TK981; depressurized, damage mangling hydraulics; Incorrect modifications/maintenance to a door.
1979/May: AA191; engine fell off due to 'maintenance induced damage'
1979/Oct: WA2605; landed on grass, missing approach
1979/Nov: TE901; flew into mountain, navigation error by pilots

Very sad; especially for a new aircraft (at the time), but I don't see any of these as being 'design flaws', with perhaps the AA incident which allowed for a bad situation at low altitude (it caused asymmetrical retraction of the slats).


The sadest thing about the DC-10 was that Margaret Thatcher used the brief grounding of American DC10s, to cause a 6 or 7 month grounding of all British registered DC10s. At the time, the only DC10s in the UK fleet were owned by the two major competitors to British Airways; BCaledonian, and Laker. Freddie Laker's longhaul fleet at the time was entirely DC10s, and it wounded him enough that Laker could never recover. Dirty tactics from BA and the British Government (also Maggie Thatcher agreed to stop an anti-trust lawsuit against the US/British Carriers Laker had filed for $1Billion, but that's another story.)

Long live Freddie, the man that brought low cost travel to the masses.