The LWS-6 Żubr was another WWII aircraft that was dead on arrival. The Polish twin-engine bomber was produced by the LWS factory prior to the War. Fifteen examples were delivered to the Polish Air Force by 1939, but since they were already obsolete, they were only used in training. Even in training, however, they proved dangerous.
The LWS-6 was slow, weakly armed, and performed poorly. Not only that, but they also had design flaws. One hazard was the undercarriage retracted upon landing. To remediate, they would fly with the undercarriage locked down.
The Fairey Battle
The Royal Air Force regretted ever ordering the Fairey Battle. By its first battle in 1937, the WWII fighter plane was obsolete. The British single-engine light bomber was manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company. The head of Fairey complained that the specifications for the plane by the Air Ministry were not possible but offered an alternative design which was accepted by the ministry.
The very modern-looking aircraft was powered by a Rolls Royce engine and could carry six 250 lbs. bombs. The three-seater held a gunner seat with one machine gun. Compared to other fighters, it was weak on firepower and much slower, causing it to be easily shot down. The enemy fighters flew 100 mph faster than the RAF’s anachronistic Battle. In all, 2,201 were built. Many were lost. In May 1940, for instance, 60 of 118 Fairey Battles were lost in four days. The same losses were endured in four separate combat missions.
The Douglas TBD Devastator
A prototype of the Douglas TBD Devastator was ready in 1935, but the torpedo bomber was obsolete by the time of WWII, notwithstanding the fact that the TBD was considered the world’s most advanced technology upon completion in 1937.
The technological advance was fierce during these years, and it was devastating for the TBD. During the Battle of Midway, 41 of the Douglas Aircraft Company’s torpedo bombers were sent out. They came back with zero torpedo hits and 6 left—35 were shot down. They became known as a death trap for the pilot and crew. The TBD crawled through the sky at 200 mph, and, at that speed, they could not defend themselves. To fire a torpedo, the plane had to flying slower than 115 mph, a speed that makes it very easy for the enemy to shoot at. After the Midway catastrophe, the Navy withdrew the TBD from battle. Out of the 139 built, only 39 were left by that time.
The Saab 340
The Saab 340 is a commuter aircraft that hit the skies in 1984. It has had several accidents, including fatalities, and it has had some serious noise issues to contend with. The Saab 340 is a passenger twin-engine turboprop plane out of Sweden that can seat up to 36 people. With turboprop propulsion, it is more fuel-efficient, but the turboprop engines on this one made it particularly noisy. Finally, in the 1990s, they developed a high-tech noise cancellation system which took the din of the turboprops down by 10 decibels.
That’s a huge cut, but it underscores how loud the flight was. More significantly, the Saab 340 suffered four fatal crashes. Seven other crashes caused serious damage that was beyond repair, totaling the aircraft. At least two resulted from the undercarriage collapsing on landing. The others were likely due to pilot error.
The MD-80
McDonnell Douglas designed the MD-80 twin-engine commercial jetliner as an upgrade to the DC-9. The MD-80 is a single-aisle aircraft that seats up to 172 people. It was the “workhorse” of American Airlines, its most profitable plane for four decades, until the company retired their remaining 26 planes in 2019. On average, the MD-80 has a lower crash rate than other airlines making it one of the safest planes to fly, statistically. However, its long service has featured some ugly incidents.
A MD-80 packed with 156 passengers crashed in Detroit killing almost everyone on board, plus two ground crew. A 4-year-old little girl was the only survivor who was found strapped to her seat and buried in debris. In 1996, a fail-on-takeoff killed two on board. One crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California killing all 88 on board. Improper maintenance was blamed. The FAA tried to fine American Airlines $7.1 million for flying planes that were not properly maintained. On the upside, now that it is grounded, of course, those flight risks are gone.