McDonnell Douglas MD-82

The McDonnell Douglas MD-82 aircraft is a twin-engine jet commercial airliner first produced in the late 1970s. First commercial versions were sold in the 1980s and over 1,100 units were produced in the MD-80 series.Boeing: MD-80 Background

The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series commercial airliner was ranked as the second safest airplane by AirDisaster.com. Almost 1,200 MD-80 series planes were produced from 1980 to 1999, first by McDonnell Douglas and then by Boeing after their merger. Only 18 fatal accidents have been recorded for the various versions of the aircraft. The most recent incident occurred in August of 2008 as a plane shot off the runway in Madrid.Guardian Unlimited: MD-80 ranked second safest plane in the skies (August 20, 2008)