McDonnell Douglas · Single-aisle jet
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series
Is the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series safe? It ranks Shared rankWithin 1 point of other aircraft types: the difference is not meaningful.More in the glossary of 53 airliner families we rate, with 16 fatal accidents counted in about 45 million passenger flights.
How the score is built
- Fatal passenger accidents
- 16 in 45.3 million flights
0.35 fatal passenger accidents per million flights. Counted: passenger flights, accidents and unexplained losses; not counted: sabotage, hijackings, shoot-downs and deliberate crew acts.
- Full-loss equivalents
- 11
Each counted accident adds the share of people on board who died (1 = no survivors). This is what the score is based on.
- Flights flown
- 45.3 million
Estimated passenger departures. Passenger departures 1980 to 7 October 2026. 2019-2022: OpenSky flights by passenger airlines, re-weighted to World Bank departures country by country. Other years: fleet model (deliveries with a median passenger service life of about 19 years, about 2,008 departures per aircraft per year, calibrated on OpenSky 2019). Uncertainty roughly ±25%.
- Technology generation
- Gen 3 jet (glass cockpit and flight management system)
Small fleets are pulled toward the record of their generation: 0.17 full-loss equivalents per million flights over 419 million flights. Weight of this family's own record: 94%.
- Last fatal passenger accident
- 24 July 2014
Air Algérie, lsf Swiftair flight AH5017, 80 km NW of Gossi, Mali: 116 of 116 people on board died.
- Hull losses
- 52
Civil aircraft destroyed or written off from all causes, including non-fatal accidents, cargo flights and attacks; airframes flown by air forces on military operations are left out (context only, not in the score).
Compared with everyday risks
One flight on the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series carries about the same risk of death as the activities near it below.
- An hour's walk1 in 14 million
- Driving 100 miles (160 km)1 in 5.9 million
- One flight on the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 seriesThis aircraft1 in 4.2 million
- A day of skiing1 in 1.3 million
- An ordinary day: accidents and violence1 in 1 million
- A scuba dive1 in 500,000
- Cycling 100 miles (160 km)1 in 430,000
- Running a marathon1 in 290,000
- A skydive1 in 250,000
- A general anaesthetic1 in 100,000
- Riding a motorbike 100 miles (160 km)1 in 83,000
Accident history
16 fatal accidents count toward the score, with 1,336 people on board killed.
| Date | Flight | Killed | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Algérie, lsf Swiftair AH5017DC-9-83 (MD-83) · 80 km NW of Gossi, Mali | 116 / 116 on board | At cruise near storms, ice crystals likely blocked engine pressure sensors because anti-ice was off. The autothrottle cut thrust, the autopilot raised the nose to hold altitude and the jet stalled; the crew did not recover and it crashed in the Malian desert.Type: Loss of control in flightASN record | |
| Dana Air DAN992DC-9-83 (MD-83) · 9,3 km N of Lagos-Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS), Nigeria | 153 / 153 on board | Both engines gradually stopped responding to the throttles due to cracked fuel lines, which a service bulletin had called for replacing. The crew flew on without declaring an emergency or diverting and crashed into a Lagos district short of the runway, killing six on the ground.Type: Engine failureASN record | |
| Spanair JK5022DC-9-82 (MD-82) · Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD), Spain | 154 / 172 on board | After a delay for a faulty probe heater, the crew took off from Madrid without extending the flaps and slats, and the takeoff warning failed to sound. The jet stalled just after lifting off, rolled and crashed beside the runway, then burned.Type: Loss of control in flightASN record | |
| Atlasjet Airlines, lsf World Focus AirlinesDC-9-83 (MD-83) · 12 km WNW of Isparta Airport (ISE), Türkiye | 57 / 57 on board | On a night VOR/DME approach to Isparta, the crew had not loaded the arrival into the flight management system and flew a wrong track over rising terrain into a hilltop. The terrain warning, which had failed many times before, did not sound.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| One-Two-Go Airlines, lsf Orient Thai Airlines OG269DC-9-82 (MD-82) · Phuket International Airport (HKT), Thailand | 90 / 130 on board | On approach to Phuket in shifting storm winds, the crew began a go-around without pressing the go-around switch, so the autothrottle cut power to idle. Speed and height decayed unnoticed and the jet struck the ground beside the runway and burned.Type: Loss of control in flightASN record | |
| West Caribbean Airways WCW708DC-9-82 (MD-82) · near Machiques, Venezuela | 160 / 160 on board | Cruising at FL330 with icing a concern, the heavy jet slowly lost speed until it stalled. The crew asked to descend and reported a double engine flameout, but never applied a stall recovery; it fell for about three and a half minutes into a swamp.Type: Loss of control in flightASN record | |
| Lion AirDC-9-82 (MD-82) · Solo City-Adi Sumarmo Airport (SOC), Indonesia | 25 / 163 on board | Landing at Solo in a thunderstorm with standing water and a tailwind above the limit, the MD-82 aquaplaned as the spoilers retracted again. It overran the runway, hit a localizer antenna base and a cemetery fence.Type: Runway excursionASN record | |
| Scandinavian Airlines System - SAS SK686DC-9-87 (MD-87) · Milano-Linate Airport (LIN), Italy | 110 / 110 on board | In thick fog at Linate, a Cessna Citation took a wrong, poorly marked taxiway and entered the active runway as the SAS MD-87 was taking off. The jets collided; the MD-87 struck a baggage building. Four people on the ground also died.Type: Runway collisionASN record | |
| Alaska Airlines AS261DC-9-83 (MD-83) · 4,5 km N off Anacapa Island, CA, United States of America | 88 / 88 on board | En route to San Francisco the stabilizer trim jammed after the jackscrew nut threads wore away from poor lubrication. As the crew worked on the problem the threads failed fully, the jet pitched nose down and tumbled into the Pacific near Anacapa Island.Type: System failureASN record | |
| American AirlinesDC-9-82 (MD-82) · Little Rock National Airport, AR (LIT), United States of America | 11 / 145 on board | The crew continued a night landing as severe thunderstorms reached the airport; the spoilers did not deploy and the jet overran, went down an embankment and hit the approach light structure. The NTSB also cited fatigue and excessive reverse thrust.Type: Runway excursionASN record | |
| Delta Air LinesMD-88 · Pensacola Regional Airport, FL (PNS), United States of America | 2 / 147 on board | Early in the takeoff roll the left engine's fan hub broke apart and debris entered the cabin, killing two passengers; the crew stopped on the runway. A fatigue crack from manufacture had been missed in the airline's inspections.Type: Engine failureASN record | |
| China Northern AirlinesDC-9-82 (MD-82) · 2 km SW of Urumqi Airport (URC), China | 12 / 102 on board | Approaching in fog with about 1 km visibility, the jet descended too low and struck a wall about 3 km short of the runway, then power lines, before crashing into a field. The autopilot had been re-engaged in vertical-speed mode at about 800 ft/min.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| China Eastern AirlinesDC-9-82 (MD-82) · Fuzhou Yixu Airport (FOC), China | 2 / 80 on board | Arriving high and well right of the centreline, the crew began a go-around at about 20 m, then chose to land after all and touched down nearly 2 km along the runway. The jet overran, broke in three and stopped in a pond.Type: Runway excursionASN record | |
| Austral Lineas AéreasDC-9-81 (MD-81) · 3 km S of Posadas Airport, MI (PSS), Argentina | 22 / 22 on board | Flying a VOR/DME approach in fog with about 100 m visibility, below the published minimums, the jet struck eucalyptus trees about 3 km short of the runway and burned.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| Northwest Airlines NW255DC-9-82 (MD-82) · Detroit-Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, MI (DTW), United States of America | 154 / 155 on board | The crew did not run the taxi checklist and took off without flaps and slats extended; the take-off warning had no power. The jet rolled after lift-off, hit light poles and a building and crashed onto a road. Two people on the ground also died.Type: Loss of control in flightASN record | |
| Inex-Adria Aviopromet JP1308DC-9-81 (MD-81) · 24 km SE of Ajaccio-Campo dell'Oro Airport (AJA), France | 180 / 180 on board | Flying a holding pattern in cloud to lose height before landing at Ajaccio, the crew went below the minimum safe altitude, and the MD-81 hit a mountainside. The controller misread the flight's intentions; the copilot's son was on the flight deck.Type: Flight into terrainASN record |
Listed but not counted
These events did not happen on regular passenger flights or were caused by a crime or a deliberate act, which says little about the aircraft design.
| Date | Flight | Killed | Why not counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| China Northern AirlinesDC-9-82 (MD-82) · off Dalian, Liaoning Province, China | 112 / 112 on board | Unlawful interference (sabotage, hijacking or shoot-down). Arson. On the descent to Dalian the crew reported a fire, and the jet went into the sea. Authorities found a passenger who had bought seven life insurance policies set fire to petrol he had carried aboard in water bottles.Type: SecurityASN record |
The MD-80 series is a reasonably safe jet with a record that sits below today's mainstream airliners, and it is now rare. Up to 7 October 2026 it has had 17 fatal events, 16 of which count, in about 45 million passenger flights. Two of the deadliest came from the same missed step, taking off without flaps while a warning system failed. Today the risk depends mostly on who flies the few remaining aircraft.
What the MD-80 is
The MD-80 is a stretched DC-9: a five-abreast narrowbody with a T-tail and two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-200 engines at the rear. It first flew in 1979, entered service in 1980 and was built until the late 1990s, with 1,191 delivered. The family includes the MD-81, MD-82, MD-83 and MD-88, which are about 150 seats, and the shorter MD-87. Some were assembled in China under licence. It has a two-pilot cockpit, mostly with analogue instruments, and conventional controls. Its successors were the MD-90 and the Boeing 717.
For two decades it was a workhorse at American Airlines, Delta, Alitalia, SAS, Iberia and others. American retired the last of its MD-80s in 2019 and Delta followed in 2020. About 60 remain in service, mostly with smaller airlines and charter operators, and some as freighters.
The take-off warning lesson
On 16 August 1987, Northwest 255 crashed on take-off at Detroit: the crew had not set the flaps and slats, and the take-off warning system had no electrical power. 154 of 155 people on board died. On 20 August 2008 Spanair 5022 repeated it at Madrid, with the same missed configuration and a warning that again did not sound. 154 of 172 died. Both crews made the error, and both times the last line of defence was missing. If you fly an MD-80 today, this is the failure that a disciplined airline's checklists exist to prevent.
The other counted accidents
- 31 January 2000, Alaska Airlines 261: the stabiliser trim jackscrew failed from wear after too little lubrication. All 88 died.
- 8 October 2001, SAS 686, Milan Linate: a Cessna Citation entered the runway in fog and the MD-87 hit it on take-off. All 110 on the MD-87 died.
- 16 August 2005, West Caribbean 708: stalled at cruise altitude over Venezuela and fell. All 160 died.
- 3 June 2012, Dana Air 992, Lagos: both engines lost power; one had not received a 2003 service bulletin on its fuel lines. All 153 died.
- 24 July 2014, Air Algérie 5017, flown by Swiftair: ice blocked engine pressure sensors, thrust fell, and the autopilot held altitude until the aircraft stalled over Mali. All 116 died.
The rest were Runway excursionWhen an aircraft leaves the runway surface during take-off or landing, either off the end (an overrun) or off the side (a veer-off).More in the glossary, approach accidents and flights into terrain, plus a Delta MD-88 at Pensacola in 1996, where an engine fan hub broke apart on take-off and killed two passengers. The one excluded event is a China Northern MD-82 that crashed off Dalian on 7 May 2002 after a passenger set a fire on board. Our methodology explains the exclusions.
How it compares
Most of these crashes say more about airlines, crews and maintenance than about the airframe. Still, the record falls short of the Boeing 737 NG and the A320 family, which have flown more flights with fewer fatal accidents per flight. It is better than the record of the 737 Classic, the Boeing jet it competed with in the 1980s and 1990s.
How to tell if you are on one
Flight trackers show MD81, MD82, MD83, MD87 or MD88. You will see two engines at the back beside a T-tail and a long, narrow cabin with two seats on one side of the aisle and three on the other. Since the remaining fleet flies with smaller operators, check the airline's record before you book; on this type it tells you more than the aircraft does.
Questions people ask
Is the MD-80 still flying?
A few are. About 60 of the 1,191 built remain in service, down from hundreds a decade ago. American Airlines and Delta, once the largest operators, retired theirs by 2020. The rest fly mainly for smaller airlines and charter operators, many in Iran and Latin America, and as freighters.
What caused the Spanair crash in Madrid?
On 20 August 2008 the crew of Spanair 5022 began the take-off without the flaps and slats extended, and the warning that should have alerted them did not sound. The MD-82 stalled just after lift-off and 154 of the 172 people on board died. It repeated the cause of Northwest 255 at Detroit in 1987.
What happened on Alaska Airlines flight 261?
On 31 January 2000 the horizontal stabiliser trim jammed and then failed on an MD-83 over the Pacific off California, and all 88 people died. The NTSB found the threads of the jackscrew nut worn away because Alaska Airlines had lubricated it too rarely, under an extended interval the FAA had approved.
Are the MD-80, MD-90 and Boeing 717 the same aircraft?
They are three generations of the DC-9 family. The MD-80 stretched the DC-9 and added more powerful engines. The MD-90 and the Boeing 717 followed with modern engines and cockpits. We score each one separately because their records differ a lot.
Sources
- 1.ASN record: Northwest Airlines flight 255, Detroit, 16 August 1987 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 2.ASN record: Alaska Airlines flight 261, off Anacapa Island, 31 January 2000 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 3.ASN record: Spanair flight 5022, Madrid, 20 August 2008 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 4.ASN record: Dana Air flight 992, Lagos, 3 June 2012 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 5.ASN record: Air Algérie flight 5017 (Swiftair), Mali, 24 July 2014 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 6.SafetyScorer exposure model: OpenSky Network flights 2019-2022, World Bank departures, fleet model (opens in a new tab)Passenger departures 1980 to 7 October 2026. 2019-2022: OpenSky flights by passenger airlines, re-weighted to World Bank departures country by country. Other years: fleet model (deliveries with a median passenger service life of about 19 years, about 2,008 departures per aircraft per year, calibrated on OpenSky 2019). Uncertainty roughly ±25%.