Discussion on the security of MD (McDonnell Douglas) aircraft has been brought into the spotlight following the Nigerian Crash happened on June 3, which is claimed as the most severe air crash over the past two decades.

Still, thousands of MD aircraft are flying round the world. It is noteworthy that, the destroyed plane is a MD-83 passenger aircraft, and the model was once assembled and operated in China. However, all MD aircraft have been phased out of the Chinese market due to several reasons.

MD-83, a member of the MD-80 family, is powered by two JT8D-219 turbofan engines. Flight range for the MD-83 is 4,635 kilometers with 155 passengers on board. Its MTOW (Maximum Take-Off Weight) is 72,575 kilograms.

Historically, the MD-83 aircraft had its first flight on December 17, 1984, gained its FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) certification in 1985 and was first delivered to Alaska Airlines in the same year. Since then, nearly 1,200 MD-80 family aircraft -- the best-selling short- and medium-haul aircraft in the 1980s and 90s -- had been produced before their shutdown.

As a matter of fact, the production of all MD aircraft was closed in 1999 after McDonnell Douglas was merged into Boeing. But, McDonnell Douglas had been the rival of Boeing and Airbus before it was purchased by Boeing with US$13.3 billion on December 15, 1996.

Even in China, MD aircraft had enjoyed great significance in air transportation. For instance, MD-82 had served air transportation of China for 23 years. They had been hailed as "the handsome man in the sky" for its slender fuselage, rear-mounted engines, elegant flight attitude and quiet cabin environment.

It is understood that many Chinese airlines including China Eastern and China Southern had operated MD aircraft for a time. China Eastern used to own 14 MD-82s, which were replaced with 10 A319s in 1999. Afterwards, the airline's MD-90 aircraft were also put out of use by either being resold or transformed into cargo aircraft.

An insider from an airline pointed out that, since no updates were seen on MD aircraft, they became no match for the new aircraft delivered by Boeing or Airbus concerning aircraft' economy, comfort and competitiveness. Besides, the maintenance and renewal of plane-parts are inconvenient in China after the shutdown. So, it's no wonder that Chinese airlines have opted new types.

"The retirement of MD series is not wholly due to security performance, but for the fact that aircraft equipment supply suffered from the shrinking MD aircraft assembly line", the insider added. MD-90s are still in operation in America, Japan, South Korea, ect.

Assembly cooperation between McDonnell Douglas and China also stopped after the merger. An industry insider told the reporter that, cooperation with China was a strategic policy for McDonnell Douglas to compete against Boeing during the competitive 1980s when it had been the underdog. In 1985 and 1989, McDonnell Douglas and China signed agreements of assembling 30 MD-85s and 5 MD-83s respectively in Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory. Moreover, McDonnell Douglas offered lots of blueprints used for assembling aircraft freely, as well as subcontracted to China the production of horizontal stabilizers, flaps and six cabin doors.

Zhou Jisheng, an aviation aircraft manufacturing expert told the reporter that, after the merger, Boeing stopped production of MD aircraft in the U.S., resulting in China's lack of confidence in the market prospect of MD-90s. With regards to uncertainties including supply of aircraft parts and components and product marketing resources, China decided to cut the production of MD-90s to 2, and then witnessed a complete shutdown of MD aircraft.