DC-10 today

The Pratt & Whitney JT9D engine was the first engine available for the new generation of widebody aircraft and the first high bypass ratio engine. The program was launched in September 1965 and the first engine run took place in December 1966.

First only built for the 747, it quickly became an option for other widebody airlines. McDonnell Douglas chose the engine for its longer range DC-10 for two reasons: First, General Electric had no similar product when the long-range DC-10 was in its early design phase. Second, Boeing 747 costumers may chose this engine option for fleet commonality.

Two variants of the JT9D were used on the DC-10, the JT9D-20 (Northwest Airlines) and the JT9D-59 (Japan Air Lines). Unfortunately, the JT9D - powered aircraft was less popular than the CF6-50 - powered DC-10 and even Northwest Airlines, which operated both types in the 1990s, favoured the GE - powered aircraft over their originally ordered DC-10-40s.

The first JT9D-powered DC-10 was #28, the last #381. Today, only four JT9D - powered aircraft remain in service with Aeroflot.


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