What was the design flaw in the early Douglas McDonnel DC-10 plane that made it prone to disaster?

Question

What was the design flaw in the early Douglas McDonnel DC-10 plane that made it prone to disaster?

Answer 1

The bolt on the luggage door compartment did not lock properly although the indication from outside showed it was properly closed and locked.

Answer 2

The one you're probably thinking about is the cargo door latch. On most planes, the doors open inward, allowing pressure to hold them in place when the plane is in flight. The DC-10's doors open outward, meaning they needed a complex latch mechanism to hold them in place. This had the advantage that you didn't need a large clear space in front of the door to allow them to open, making more usable cargo room.

Two unfortunate design decisions interacted to make this a serious problem. First, it was very easy to get the latch lever to go down without engaging the locking pins. If the locking pins were jammed or blocked due to the door not closing all the way, you could still push the door lock lever down, bending the connector between the lever and the pins. The door appeared securely latched, the indicator said it was latched, but the locking pins were not engaged.

The other problem was the layout of the interior of the plane and the routing of hydraulic and electric lines. If the cargo door blew out in flight, the pressure in the cargo area would drop rapidly, leaving the pressure in the passenger area still high because there was little venting between them.

This would result in a huge pressure difference pressing down on the cabin floor. The floor would give way and as it moved, it would tear critical hydraulic and electric lines, crippling the plane's control systems.

Answer 3

First two answers are good and have been the direct cause of at least two accidents.

Another major flaw was the routing ( since corrected ) of independent hydraulic lines. Lets not forget flight 191 that crashed in Sioux city In 1991.

A simple engine failure sent debris that destroyed the Aircrafts 3 seperate hydraulic systems. Rendering the DC 10s flight controlls unusable.

Only the skill and heroics of the flight crew prevented a total loss of all souls on board. Tragically many died, but many more were saved. There was more than one design flaw in this otherwise beautiful Aircraft. To pick one I would say poor design of the Hydraulic systems.

Answer 4

One was a cargo hatch latch that gave way in flight, and the other was the large pins that held the engine to the pylon.