Jano

There was a chapter about this in Macarthur Job "Airline Disasters" volume 2. Aloha had 3 cycles per hour of flight (I hope I remember correctly) while Boeing supposed there would be 1 1/2 cycle per hour of flight. As a result of this, cracks sooner than expected and lead to the disaster.

doc

Yes, this has been a popular topic in the past here on FT, and here is just a sampling of some earlier related discussions:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71914

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...6&page=1&pp=15

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...t=73058&page=1

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...t=73082&page=1

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...t=73762&page=1

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...7&page=1&pp=15


-Mark

ed1

Even the DC9-10 had 14 F seats! Also, they'd replace the 9s with CRJs and not the Avros - which are great, and have better coach and F seats than the 9s, but CRJs don't even have F.

-Ed

NNH

As various people have commented in other threads, the great thing about the -9 is that it has a special type of riveting that is slightly heavier but much more robust than that used in most other aircraft. They built those things very well!

YVR Cockroach

IIRC, the aircraft which suffered that had something in the order of 80,000 cycles (compression and decompression) so its life was being used up. The humid salty air of Hawaii may have accelerated metal fatigue (I don't know if this was ever confirmed). FWIW, 80,000 cycles is about as much flying as the entire BA and AF Concorde fleets did in service.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...13X25439&key=1
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?...88MA054&rpt=fi

silverkris168

Did someone mention about wanting to fly a DC-8? I'm not sure, but there might be a few in service hauling cargo, and outside the USA (noise regulations, though the hush kit retrofits may get the bird in compliance).

As many have mentioned, these aircraft, when maintained properly and on schedule, are safe and can be used for a very loooong time,with timely retrofits and refurbishment. I'm surprised that the B-52s are still flying.

The main driver for fleet replacement is of course economics----older planes are generally less fuel efficient than more contemporary models + higher/more extensive maintenance required for older planes. The question for an airline, of course, is the point of where one can justify the capital costs of purchasing new planes vs. the higher maintenance/running costs of the older planes in the fleet.

Defender

Should NWA ever begin replacing the DC-9's en masse, why wouldn't they consider 717's? I really like both aircraft.

Does anyone know what happened to TWA's old DC-9's after the American takeover?

remedy

Here is a tester - I could have had an upgrade to WBC through MEM from AMS, or roll the dice on an upgrade on a new Airbus 330 though DTW. Which would you do?

fromYXU

See Msp/dtw-ams 330 vs DC10.

Both are good products but offer something different. Personally, I would go with the sure thing: DC10 WBC.

sh9168

I flew from Det to Oklahoma city on an ARJ.They had a full meal in First class and snacks in economy. (3 hour flight) It felt like I was in a full size plane. I'll take an ARJ any day over a CRJ or turbosputter

ed1

While the ARJs are GREAT, I doubt we'd be so lucky as to have NW replace the 9s with them. What would be much more likely is the CRJs, which can't compare to the 9s or the ARJs. If that's indeed the case, I'll take the 9s any day! More possible problems with the ARJs that might happen, were the 9s to be replaced by the ARJ, can be found in http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...62#post3508762 and my reply to that post.

-Ed