F. D. " Dan " Applegate was director of product engineering for Convair , a McDonnell Douglas subcontractor supplying parts for the company 's newest aircraft , the DC-10 trijet , during the early 1970s . He died on January 17 , 1999 at age 81 in San Diego , California . On 12 June 1972 , American Airlines Flight 96 , a relatively new McDonnell Douglas DC-10 , was severely damaged after losing a rear cargo door while flying over Windsor , Ontario while en route to Buffalo Niagara International Airport . The pilots very nearly lost control of the trijet , but they were able to land the aircraft safely using differential throttling to control the glide angle . In the ensuing investigation , it was learned that the door had improperly latched due to a combination of a minor electrical problem , and the failure of a locking mechanism that was supposed to ensure that the latches were in place , but could , in reality , be forced closed even if they were not
American Airlines Flight 96
American Airlines Flight 96
Dan Applegate