What is the most unreliable commercial aircraft ?

[lovejoy0120]

From my watching of "Air Crash Investigation" and internet sources more Boeings crash than Airbuses .Some say that DC aircraft are the most unreliable aircraft.

Thanks

[Loosehead]

Well the DC10 did go through a period of having engines dropping off the wing due to dodgy bolts so I suppose they have a bit of a reputation.

[divernut]

Anything heading for America

[spudqueen]

Anything flown by Aeroflot!

[Clanad]

One engine, Loosehead... and that was due to unapproved maintenance procedures... certainly not the fault of the aircraft and its designers. MacDonald-Douglas built some of the finest aircraft in the world. The DC-9 fleet still numbers about 1,000 in service although it hasn't been built in several years.
The Russian and Chinese aircraft are nortorius for workmanship and unreliability, in my experience, as Spudqueen relates...

[kev100]

I wouldn't get on a DC 10 if the price from England to America was fourpence

[Clanad]

...And your reason being what, kev100?

[espookid]

I once flew to Roumania in some kind of Russian plane and one of the passengers noticed he didn't have a seat belt ,anyway after missing our slot the pilot came out and tied his belt from his pants around the guy and we took off

[nickmo]

http://www.planecrashinfo.com/index.html and go to statistics or see: http://www.airsafe.com/ and pick a topic. Also at: http://www.airdisaster.com/

[ianess]

Statistically the most dangerous plane that ever flew was Concorde. More Boeing 737's crash than any other type but there are more of them than any other type.
Statistics can prove anything.

[alfiebrady]

McDonnell-Douglas. Sorry to be pedantic, but the McDonald-Douglas suffered many faults due to having been put together from a Happy Meal toy.

[Loosehead]

Obviously I'll take your word for it clanad, it was a while ago but seem to remember it happenning more than once. I agree it ws not a design fault, I think some sub standard bolts had been allowed to get into the system somehow and they sheared under stress.

[kev100]

Because Clanad of their past record of plane crashes

[kev100]

I should have added Clanad that whilst I agree their problems may have been solved by now it is almost impossible to put the memory of tragic loss of so many lives out of your mind even a lot of years on.

[Clanad]

Actually, then kev100, you'd do well not to think of the British built DeHavilland Comet... It was in production as the first commercial jet, had a disatrous history and finally went out of production. All caused by the design of a square window... whereas the DC-10 and its cousin the current model, MD11 is still in use world wide and has an enviable safety record...As seen here:
http://www.airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=112

[lovejoy0120]

Here is the DC-9 s safety record.



.





10 December 2005; Sosoliso Airlines DC9-32; Port Harcourt, Nigeria:
The aircraft was on a domestic flight from Abuja to Port Harcourt. During the landing, the aircraft departed the runway, broke up, and caught fire. All seven crew members and 103 of the 107 passengers were killed.

[lovejoy0120]

Well,part of it.

[lovejoy0120]

Would'nt blame spudqueen from saying that anything flown by Aeroflot is unreliable.Just a few years ago (you might have seen this episode of "Kid in the cockpit" on National geographic) a flight from Moscow was departing.When they were cruising for around 30 minutes the Captain turned the autopilot on and let his 15 year old son in the pilots seat.Unfortunately he accidentaly offered some restistance to the control column for 30 seconds and unknowingly switched the autopilot off.Even the pilots did not know know it as it was only a few days old.The plane started to bank.Still the Russians didn't care.Then they noticeed something when the plane started to bank at 35 degrees.At 45 degrees they watched horrified as the plane began to nose dive as well but the 15 year old stayed in control of a brand new Airbus for 7 more seconds.The pilot took control then and pulled back as hard as he could.The really upsetting part of this is that reconstructions have shown that the plane would have gone out of the dive had they let go.

[Clanad]

Unfortunate as it was, lovejoy, the accident wasn't caused by the aircraft, but rather by the crew. Here's an excerpt from the preliminary accident report:
Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 was a scheduled flight between the Nigerian cities of Abuja (ABV) and Port Harcourt (PHC).

At about 14:08 local time (13:08 UTC) on December 10, 2005, Flight 1145 from Abuja crash-landed on the runway at Port Harcourt International Airport. The plane, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 with 110 people onboard, burst into flames. So far, a Nigerian civil aviation spokesman has reported 107 fatalities. Immediately after the crash, seven survivors were recovered and taken to hospitals, but it has since been reported that four of those survivors have died in hospital care, leaving only three survivors, two of whom were flown to South Africa.

The cause of the crash is unconfirmed but it is believed that the aircraft overshot the runway during a thunderstorm, and is reported to have been struck by lightning about 40 or 50 metres before touchdown.

Obviously, this technical distinction doesn't matter to the dead or their families. It is intersting to note that the continent of Africa accounts for nearly 40% of aviation accidents but uses only 3% of the aviation hours flown world wide annualy. They have a notorious safety record taken as a whole. ICAO (International Congress of Aviation Organizations) has launched an intitiative to help African countries improve on this problem, but it's a long hard battle...

[KebabMeister]

It's not necessarily unreliable aircraft but the crews & lack of maintenance/training on them in the instance of most Eastern Europe & Asian airlines (Tupolev, Antonov & Ilyushin aircraft etc.).

Clanad, the DH Comet did have an awful start to its career but it proved to be a successful aircraft in the end although it was quickly eclipsed by the Boeing 707. The Comet airframe is still in use with the RAF as the Nimrod R1, MR2 and the recent 80% new MR4.