The aircraft was designed to be lighter, simpler, and more fuel-efficient than the original DC-10, and to compete with the Airbus A300, the first twin-aisle twinjet.
[2][3][4] McDonnell Douglas held a major presentation of the proposed DC-10 Twin at Long Beach, California, and several European airlines were willing to place orders.
On July 30th, 1973, however, the company's board decided not to give the proposed twin the go-ahead, as no US airline had ordered it.
More DC-10 Twin proposals were made, either as a collaboration with a European manufacturer or as a solely McDonnell Douglas product, but none proceeded beyond design studies.
[5] The proposal was based on a specification from American Airlines in 1966, who wanted a wide-body aircraft smaller than the Boeing 747 yet capable of flying similar long-range routes between airports with shorter runways.