For the second time Delta Airlines retired its fleet of DC9-30 series aircraft from scheduled service. It first retired the DC9-30s in the 1980's and as a result of the merger with Northwest Airlines once again became an operator of the airplanes. Most of these DC9's were originally operated by North Central, Hughes Airwest, and Southern Airways. Then were operated by Republic Airlines before their merger with Northwest Orient. Republic had acquired a few planes from Alitalia and also one plane of note was made up of two incident airplanes. The wings were from the Air Canada flight that made an emergency landing in Cincinnati with a fire on board. The fuselage was destroyed. The wings were attached to the fuselage of an Ozark Airlines DC9-30 that was badly damaged in a landing accident at Sioux Falls, SD. A plow was still on the runway during the landing. The plow driver was killed and wing severely damaged. They mated the Air Canada wings and the Ozark fuselage to make a whole new DC9-30. Last reported to be in storage in Arizona at the Evergreen facility. The DC9 is a great airplane with a great track record for safety and reliability.
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