MIAMI – Today in Aviation, the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 took to the skies for the first time in 1965, gaining its type certificate nine months later.
During the 1950s, there was a growing demand for economic aircraft for frequent short-haul flights to small airports with short runways. In order to meet this demand, the Douglas Aircraft Company (DAC) worked on a design to complement its DC-8 family aircraft.
Initially, DAC designed a four-engine aircraft that did not attract enough interest from customers. Then, in 1960, subscribed a two-year contract with France’s Sud Aviation to support, produce and market a licensed version of its Caravelle in the United States. However, the venture did not prosper as expected, and Douglas went back to the design board once the Caravelle contract expired.