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My Story "THY DC-10" at London Gatwick 1974

My Story "THY DC-10" at London Gatwick 1974

Posted by Malcolm on 27th Aug 2025

After a stop at Orly and a schedule delay due to the last-minute boarding of many passengers, TC-JAV took off for London Heathrow at 11:32 a.m. Shortly after 11:40, the aircraft reached 12,000 feet and then disappeared from radar, crashing 92 seconds later. It was one of the deadliest accidents of its time (346 lives lost) and seriously shook public confidence in the DC-10. Those my age, 66, will remember this well. It was March 3, 1974. The DC-10 was flown by many airlines. Laker was the leading UK operator of the trijet.
Here is a list of the operators back in the early 1970s. My story continues below the table.
Early DC-10 Operators by Year
1971 American Airlines Launch customer, DC-10-10 on U.S. domestic routes.
1971 United Airlines Co-launch customer, DC-10-10.
1972 Continental Airlines Early U.S. operator, DC-10-10.
1972 National Airlines Used DC-10-10s incl. Miami–London flights.
1972 Northwest Orient Airlines Launched DC-10-40 (Pratt & Whitney powered).
1972 KLM Royal Dutch Airlines First European DC-10 operator.
1972 Swissair Early European intercontinental operator (DC-10-30).
1972 Japan Air Lines (JAL) DC-10-40 introduced on Pacific routes.
1973 Lufthansa Introduced DC-10-30s.
1973 Air France Brought DC-10-30 into long-haul service.
1973 SAS Scandinavian Airlines DC-10-30 on Europe–U.S. routes.
1973 Sabena (Belgium) Operated DC-10-30s.
1973 Varig (Brazil) Early South American operator.
1974 Turkish Airlines DC-10-10 fleet, including aircraft involved in 1974 Paris accident.
1974 Alitalia (Italy) DC-10-30 long-haul.
1974 Laker Airways (UK) Famous for Skytrain DC-10 services.
1975 Finnair DC-10-30 entered service.
1975 Air New Zealand DC-10-30s for long-haul Pacific flights.
1975 Wardair (Canada) Charter and leisure operations.
1975 Western Airlines (U.S.) DC-10-10s for domestic trunk routes.
1970s (mid) Delta Air Lines Took DC-10-10s before switching to L-1011 preference.

Just after this time, my plane spotting friend Christopher Plunkett and I were heading home from a day of spotting. We had finished with the light aircraft, where the South satellite is today. As it was March, the evening was darkening. We rode home on our bicycles along the East Perimeter Road and saw a DC-10. At first, we didn't think much of it, as it was partly inside a hangar with just the tail visible. Laker's DC-10s had arrived in late 1972. But it was not in the Laker section of the airport. Wet brakes squeaked on our bikes in the light rain. We realised it was a THY DC-10, the sister of the one that crashed days earlier. We couldn't see all of it—does that count as a spot? Sometimes you think you've seen it all at Gatwick, and then a surprise appears. Without the internet or Flight Radar24, we couldn't know when it would leave. We had school, so visiting Gatwick by bike took time and effort. Plus, it would be dark, and there was homework and dinner to attend to. In short, it flew out, and we missed it. It didn't even make the local paper. We believe it was a quiet inspection, as I think all DC-10s were inspected but never fully grounded. The only time the DC-10 fleet was grounded worldwide was in June 1979, after the American Airlines Flight 191 crash in Chicago, when the FAA suspended operations for over a month to investigate engine and pylon issues.

This story comes from revisiting my spotting notebooks from that time, though I remember it well. I hope younger spotters gain insight into what spotting was like in my day.
I created the scene with AI, as we didn't have phones back then, and my camera wouldn't have worked in that kind of light.
Malcolm, A spotter from the old days when aircraft made a noise to remember.
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