Editing McDonnell Douglas DC-10 (section)

===Into flight===
[[File:McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Prototype Landing.jpg|thumb|A prototype during flight testing, the DC-10 made its first flight on August 29, 1970.]]
On August 29, 1970, the first DC-10, a series 10, conducted its [[maiden flight]].{{sfn|Endres|1998|pp=25–26}} An extensive flight test program was carried out, totaling 929 flights and 1,551 flight hours; the test program was not incident-free: during one ground test in 1970, an outwardly-opening cargo door blew out and resulted rapid pressurization changes that caused the main cabin's floor to collapse.<ref name="fielder 2-3">{{harvnb|Fielder|Birsch|1992|pp=2–3}}</ref><ref name="endres 28"/> This discovery and first effort at rectification led to a contract dispute between McDonnell Douglas and Convair over what changes were necessary and financial liability. Fielder alleges that McDonnell Douglas consistently sought to minimize and postpone any design changes to the DC-10, although this attitude was not an explicit policy.<ref name="fielder 2390">{{harvnb|Fielder|Birsch|1992|pp=23, 90}}</ref> In July 1971, Convair outlined the situation in a formal memo; almost a year later, it internally expressed concerns that the inadequate resolution would lead to loss of aircraft.<ref name="fielder 165">{{harvnb|Fielder|Birsch|1992|pp=90–91, 165}}</ref> Tragically, the initial rectification work would prove to be inadequate.<ref name="fielder 4">{{harvnb|Fielder|Birsch|1992|p=4}}</ref>

On July 29, 1971, the FAA issued the [[type certificate]] for the DC-10, permitting its entry into revenue service.<ref name="endres 28">{{harvnb|Endres|1998|p=28}}</ref> It entered commercial service with American Airlines on August 5, 1971, with the initial flight being a round-trip flight between Los Angeles and Chicago. United Airlines also commenced DC-10 flights later that same month.{{sfn|Endres|1998|p=52}} American's DC-10s were configured to seat a maximum of 206 passengers while United's seated 222; both had six-across seating in first-class and eight-across (four pairs) in coach.<ref>''Aviation Daily'' July 29, 1971.</ref> They operated the first version of the DC-10, referred to as the "domestic" series 10, which had a range of {{convert|3800|mi|nmi km}} with a typical passenger load and a range of {{convert|2710|mi|nmi km}} with maximum payload.