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McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 · N117AA · FedEx Express

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 illustration in FedEx Express livery Illustrative image; it may differ from the actual aircraft.

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10

DC10-46517Scrapped
RegistrationUSN117AA
Verified aircraft dataagainst the official civil aviation registerWhat does this badge mean?We checked that this aircraft’s registration, serial number and model match the official civil aviation register: FAA (United States), data as of Oct 8, 2026.That makes its identity more reliable. The verification expires after 12 months: if the register stops confirming it, the badge disappears.How we verify
OperatorFedEx Express
2operators
1incidents
0accidents
0logbook years
0photos

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 built in 1972 in Long Beach. Operated for American Airlines and FedEx Express. Scrapped.

NewNearly newYoungMatureAgingOld
Old · 29 years · ≈ 81,200 flight hours (approx.)
Vuelopedia is a work in progress: it currently holds about 30% of the information we expect to have by the third quarter of 2027. Although we use only official, highly reliable sources, some aircraft data and history may still contain errors or inaccuracies. We work hard to clear every anomaly from the records using specialized verification tools.

Technical data

ManufacturerMcDonnell Douglas
First flight1972
Built inLong Beach, California (EE. UU.)
Country of registrationEstados Unidos
MSN46517
VerificationIdentity verified against the official register of FAA (United States) · Oct 8, 2026

The model · McDonnell Douglas DC-10

Figures for the DC-10-30 variant, the most representative of the family · it is 53% the length of a football pitch

Length55.4 m182 ft
Wingspan50.4 m165 ft
Height17.6 m58 ft
Range9,630 km5,200 NMWith a typical passenger load
Cruise speed871 km/h470 ktMach 0.82
Service ceiling12,800 m41,995 ftIt flies above Everest (1.4 times its height)
Maximum take-off weight267,619 kg589,998 lb
Maximum payload146,877 kg323,808 lbIts 255 passengers with baggage would weigh about 25.5 t; the rest is fuel and cargo
Typical capacity255 passengersUp to 380 in a high-density layout
Endurance11 h 03 minAt cruise speed, non-stop

With its 9,630 km range, from Memphis it could fly non-stop as far as:

ISTIstanbul9,477 kmEZEBuenos Aires (Ezeiza)8,427 kmGIGRio De Janeiro8,102 kmGRUSão Paulo7,956 kmSCLSantiago7,868 km
Beyond its rangeLOSLagos9,887 km

The type first flew in 1970 (56 years ago) · About 446 units built · Production ended in 1989

Figures for the type, not for this particular aircraft: each variant and each configuration changes something. They are shown in both systems used in aviation.

The full story of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Compare this aircraft

Airports

Airports of the airlines that have operated it

1996–2001FedEx Express airline base
Base
MEMMemphis

Flight logbook

Under research

Aircraft chronology

1972
Built
Assembled by McDonnell Douglas in Long Beach, California (USA).
Jun 28, 1972
Delivered to McDonnell Douglas Corporation
Delivered to McDonnell Douglas Corporation as N117AA.
Jul 21, 1972
Transferred to American Airlines
Transferred to American Airlines.
Jun 6, 1979
Airworthiness directive
On June 6, 1979, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft (registration N117AA), was subject to an airworthiness directive due to fatigue cracks in the engine pylon caused by an inadequate maintenance procedure, together with deficiencies in the slat and stall warning systems. Source: la FAA.
Source: la FAA
Dec 12, 1984
Incident at Jamaica
On December 12, 1984, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 aircraft (registration N117AA), operated by American Airlines, was involved in an incident at Jamaica (United States) due to damage from gunfire on the ground. Source: American Airlines.
Source: American Airlines
Sep 1, 1996
Transferred to FedEx Express
Transferred to FedEx Express.
Sep 11, 2001
Grounded after 9/11
On September 11, 2001, the DC10-10 aircraft (registration N117AA), operated by FedEx Express, was in the news. Source: the FAA (United States).
What happened
On 11 September 2001, after the attacks with hijacked aircraft on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon, the FAA ordered — for the first time in history — the complete closure of United States airspace (the SCATANA plan): all civil aviation was told to land immediately, and by midday the American sky was clear. Around 240 international flights bound for the United States were diverted to Canada — Operation Yellow Ribbon, with more than 30,000 passengers. Airspace reopened gradually from 13 September, by then under new security measures. Source: the FAA (United States).
Source: FAA

Operators

1972-06-28
1972-07-21
American Airlines
Registration N117AA
1996-09-01
FedEx Express
Registration N117AA

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Cite

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This page was last updated on October 15, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 15). McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 · N117AA · FedEx Express. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/DC10-46517

MLA

“McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 · N117AA · FedEx Express.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 15 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/DC10-46517. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 · N117AA · FedEx Express.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 15, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/DC10-46517.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 · N117AA · FedEx Express. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/DC10-46517 (Accessed: 16 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_aircraft_dc10_46517,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 · N117AA · FedEx Express}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-15},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/DC10-46517},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/DC10-46517}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-16},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/DC10-46517 |title=McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 · N117AA · FedEx Express |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-15 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}