Even good comeback stories eventually have an end.

For the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, the story of its improbable return to public acceptance after a series of crashes and even a temporary grounding is nearing its conclusion.

Northwest Airlines, the last U.S. operator of the DC-10 in scheduled passenger service, is transitioning to the Airbus A330, a newer, more efficient plane packed with the latest in passenger comfort and entertainment features. It flew its last DC-10 in international service on Oct. 29 and will fly its last domestic flight on Jan. 8.

And with that, the era of scheduled passenger service aboard three-engine jumbo jets will close.

More than three decades ago, the DC-10 helped introduce travelers to the era of twin-aisle, wide-body jets. It was introduced about the same time as its less-successful look-alike, the three-engine Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, and the larger, more successful Boeing 747. The three big airplanes provided passengers with more comfort and stability and also expanded international air service by giving carriers the ability to fly longer distances.

The 747, with its distinctive bump nose that houses a second seating deck and the cockpit, got most of the attention when the wide-body jet era began. But the smaller, more versatile and more fuel-efficient DC-10 was, in some regards, better suited to the air travel market in its heyday.

The DC-10 made its inaugural flight in August 1970. It was typically configured for about 250 passengers. The 747 typically was configured for about 370 passengers, making it so large that it served only the biggest cities.

Because of its smaller capacity, says Bob van der Linden, air transport curator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, "The DC-10 introduced wide-body service to a lot more markets than did the 747."

As a consequence, many frequent travelers have fond memories of the DC-10. Karl-Heinz Beulke Moreno is among them. The son of a German father and Venezuelan mother, he flew frequently on DC-10s as a child between the two countries, visiting relatives. Today, at 28, he is an aircraft ground manager at Hamburg Airport. In his spare time, he runs a Web site devoted to his favorite plane, www.taxiways .de/DC-10.

The story of the DC-10 includes a comeback element that other iconic planes such as the 747 lack.

In its early days, the "10," as it is known in aviation shorthand, seemed cursed. In the 1970s, it was involved in six deadly accidents in which 948 people died. (Over its entire history, it has been involved in 15 fatal accidents, with 1,430 dead.)

Four early accidents were caused by one of three factors unrelated to aircraft design: pilot error, a blown engine or a blown tire. The plane's maker and operators staunchly defended it.

But one deadly crash and one near-tragedy were tied to a design problem. In March 1974, the rear cargo door blew out of a Turkish Airlines DC-10 climbing out of Paris.

The plane crashed, killing all 345 people aboard. A design flaw in the cargo-door latching system had been discovered, and a voluntary modification program launched, after an American Airlines crew wrestled a DC-10 to the ground safely in 1972 after a similar failure. The Turkish jet had not been modified.

The crash most devastating to the public's perception of its safety occurred on May 25, 1979. The left-wing engine of American Flight 191 came off just before lifting off from Chicago's O'Hare airport, ripping away the wing's control surfaces. Airborne for only seconds, the plane flipped onto its back in the air and hit the ground nose first at nearly 200 mph, killing 273.

Officials quickly determined the fault to be American's shortcut method for replacing wing engines, a method most other airlines had adopted as well.

Of the 446 DC-10s, more than 170 are still in use, most as freight haulers.