The veteran trijet, McDonnell Douglas MD-11, is once again under scrutiny following the tragic crash of a UPS Airlines cargo jet in Louisville, Kentucky. Although these jets are now only seen flying freight, originally most of them were made to carry passengers. That did not last long as the plane quickly earned a bad reputation among operators, aircrew, and even customers for its rough handling and poor performance.

The jet was Notorious for a high hard-landing rate, far more frequent than that of competing airliners. It is easy to simply chalk that up to pilot skill. However, there were design choices that directly contributed to the plane’s tendency, which resulted in a plane that was very difficult to land smoothly. For pilots that were not particularly skilled at the stick of the MD-11, it could be much more than just uncomfortable, and even a very dangerous jet to fly.

Handling Of An Uncontrolled Missile

The MD-11 earned a nickname early in its tenure with commercial operators. It was dubbed the “Scud.” The name was derived from a type of uncontrolled missile that was well known due to the Iran-Iraq War of the decade preceding the debut of the MD-11 in 1990. The reason why the MD-11 earned this nickname was that McDonnell Douglas had programmed the flight computer to handle the aircraft like a DC-10, but it did not have the exact same aerodynamics.

Pilots would joke that you never knew exactly where the airplane would land. You only knew where you took off from, just like a Scud missile. True to that moniker, the plane became notorious for being exceptionally difficult to handle compared to virtually every other jetliner in the sky. especially troubling, and contributing to a large number of mishaps was its very poor characteristics during landing.

The aerodynamics and weight balance of the aircraft, as well as the engine performance, made it prone to bouncing on Landing due to a number of factors. Another characteristic it had that contributed to crashes and accidents was a very high sink rate, also the reason why the plane had a much higher than average hard Landing rate. The worst handling defect of the plane’s design was its tendency to roll when the plane was balanced after a poor approach, and the pilot did not recover properly.

The Hard Landing Leader

According to the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the MD-11 demonstrated the highest rate of hard landing events among 27 large Western-built aircraft types. The plane was recorded with 5.63 hard landings per 1 million flight cycles, according to Safe Fly Aviation.

There is no continuous tracking of hard landing statistics by any particular agency, but this focused study did show a standout difference. That strongly reinforced the reputation it had earned among pilots and flyers for the rough landings that seemed very frequent. It’s also very easy to believe, based on the known hazard associated with its tendency to slip into a very high sink rate if pilots were not focused on throttle control even after touchdown.

A particularly good example occurred in 2010, although it was with a cargo aircraft. The Lufthansa Cargo MD-11F was landing at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh when the plane bounced twice upon landing and the fuselage broke apart. Fortunately, the pilots survived, although one was seriously injured.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation of Saudi Arabia, with the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) participating, extensively investigated the incident. In the wake of the dramatic mishap, several recommendations regarding pilot training would emerge. Although the Global Fleet would continue to struggle with the aircraft into the future.

A Less Than Stellar Safety Record

In July of 2011, the NTSB called on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to instruct Boeing to make changes in the pilot training curriculum. The NTSB recommendation is summarized by this short quote, according to the Flight Safety Foundation:

“Revise its MD-11 Flight Crew Operating Manual (FCOM) to re-emphasize high sink rate awareness during landing, the importance of momentarily maintaining landing pitch attitude after touchdown and using proper pitch attitude and power to cushion excess sink rate in the flare, and to go around in the event of a bounced landing.”

Below is a table of mishap statistics related to the MD-11, updated as of November 2025 via Safe Fly Aviation:

A total of $193 aircraft were made, with the bulk being passenger aircraft and configurations that could see $285 to 405 passengers. A few Combi variants were made that could simultaneously transport passengers and cargo. A total of 57 cargo planes were made at the factory, and later over 100 would be converted from the retired passenger models.

The Loss Of Faith In The Scud

The issues with incorrect software were not the only red flags that emerged when the MD-11 entered commercial service. The plane failed to meet its claimed performance, fuel efficiency, and range expectations that McDonald’s Douglas had advertised during its development. Other twin-engine planes like the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 overshadowed the aircraft from the moment it went on sale. The very last commercial flight would take place in 2014, when KLM retired its last MD-11 from passenger flying.

The MD-11 was a stretched derivative of the DC-10 and expected to achieve lower fuel burn as well as higher performance. It could not satisfy operators after entering service. This led to early customer dissatisfaction, with airlines like Singapore Airlines canceling orders and American Airlines quickly selling their fleet to FedEx.

A number of airlines began selling off their jets to cargo carriers within just a few years of receiving them. Operators like Japan Airlines phased out their MD-11 jets by the mid-1990s. Following the merger of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas in 1997, Boeing decided to end MD-11 production to avoid internal competition with its own successful 777 and 767 programs, delivering the last aircraft in 2001.

After the turn of the century, operators like Delta Air Lines and Swiss sold off MD-11s in favor of the Airbus A330, A340 or Boeing 777. While passenger airlines were not pleased, cargo haulers have found the MD-11F to offer a good balance of payload and range with economics that work well for the industry. Over half of the passenger-configured MD-11 jets would ultimately be retrofitted for cargo service.

The Tragedy Of UPS 2976

The video footage of the incident revealed a disturbing similarity to the deadliest commercial aviation mishap in American history. The left engine of UPS Flight 2976 appears to have separated from the wing just like the 1979 crash of American Airlines Flight 191 that killed 273 people. UPS has been working towards sunsetting the MD-11F fleet it owns, which includes the last airframe of the type ever made, but it still flies 27 examples to this day.

The MD-11F operated by UPS that tragically crashed on November 4 was a weary bird by comparison to many commercial planes in service today. The jet was serial number (MSN) 48417, and 34 years old when it crashed, according to the Aviation Safety Network. The UPS fleet has an average age of 30 years, according to Planespotter.net data.

UPS is not unique in its choice to continue flying jets for over three decades since it rolled off the line. The slow arrival of new planes is largely responsible for carriers keeping old jets in service. The demand for air commerce has steadily increased every year, but aircraft production has been disrupted by global supply chain issues, exacerbated by the Coronavirus Pandemic. UPS has been planning to replace the MD-11F with the Boeing 767-300F, which will remain in production until 2027.

The global freighter fleet averages nearly 40 years of active service before retirement, but UPS is a standout for its number of trijets. Despite its poor safety record, a reputation for difficult landing behavior, and the old age of its fleet, UPS has only retired about 30% of its historic total of MD-11Fs. The preliminary investigation is still underway. Perhaps when it is released, there will be clarity as to the exact nature of what caused the crash.

The Last McDonnell Douglas

Only a handful of airframes made by McDonnell Douglas are still in service around the world, except for specialized military aircraft. Even those unique planes that are serving specialized missions do not account for a large pool of planes around the world. Although the one’s great aerospace company had a reputation for building extremely high-performance warplanes and, at one time, innovative civilian aircraft, it slowly degraded into a business that puts shareholder value above engineering quality.

The global fleet grounding following the tragic crash of the UPS freighter only weeks ago is highly likely to spell the end of the MD-11 career in revenue service. Although it may as well be an isolated incident that led to the tragic fatal mishap, there will still be significant fallout for the rest of the aircraft and service around the world. That is because extensive maintenance and inspection work will be required to return all planes to their normal schedule.

There is a good chance that given the high age of the jets around the world, which are all 30 to 35 years old, that the cost to benefit ratio will lead the remaining operators to sunset their fleet instead. should be final md-11 aircraft still in airworthy condition be scrapped, there will remain just one model still flying around the world in normal commercial roles made by the storied planemaker. That jet is the MD-80 « Mad Dog » regional airliner, of which there are about 116 still flying.