Let’s have fun with statistics…

The MD-11 has had 8 hull losses in 20 years…with 200 ac produced

For comparison…

BAC 1-11 had 31 losses in 31 years (16 in its final 20)…245 ac produced.

Comet had 26 losses in 19 years…with 112 ac produced.

A330 6 losses in 18 years…600+ ac produced

A340 5 losses in 19 years…400+ ac produced

B777 one loss in 16 years…750+ ac produced

So the MD-11 doesn’t look too bad, IMHO.
Hardly a death trap warrenting grounding.

All data from:
http://aviation-safety.net/database/

You have to make an important distinction here when comparing crashes.

For example you quote the fact the A330 has had 6 hull losses which is correct however:

1 hull loss = Accident during testing
1 hull loss = Corrosive material spilled in cargo hold damaging fuselage
2 hull loss = Blew up by terrorists
1 hull loss = AF447 over atlantic
1 hull loss = Afriqiyah A332

So for the A330, three hull losses where the result of non-aircraft related problems and one happened during testing owing to an auto-pilot error. So in actual fact the A330 has two in service crash related hull losses.

In comparison, the MD-11 incidents can all be attributed to its safety record overall except the one where the Swiss entertainment system caused the aircraft to catch fire. In this recent accident, the aircraft broke in half following a hard landing – even though there was a fire in the cargo hold.

Historically, a single engine choice has not been very successful. For example, the L1011 only offered RR engines, and only 250 were sold, vis a vis the DC-10/MD-11 which offered multiple engine types and sold 4-500 airframes. In my experience, airlines generally want competition among the engine manufacturers.

But the A350XWB already has over 500 orders on the books – a great number in anyone’s books – not to mention the MoU’s signed at Farnborough this year and the options tally too.

I think offering links to interesting aviation videos provides a chance for people to see them for themselves and is particularly useful on an aviation forum. Of course people don’t have to watch the videos, they are offered for those that wish to do so.

I am a friend of the person who records these videos so they aren’t my own videos (I wish they were LOL). I am currently looking for other interesting videos to share with you too.

It’s definitely nicer than the older livery it replaces.

I didn’t realise LOL. Still a good video though.