McDonnell Douglas Corp. announced plans to launch...

McDonnell Douglas Corp. announced plans to launch a stretched version of its MD-11 airliner to challenge Boeing Co.’s 747 jumbo. McDonnell President Jim Worsham, speaking at the Farnborough, England, air show, said the MD-11 super-stretch project could lead to collaboration with the European aircraft-building consortium, Airbus Industrie, in developing the wings for the new aircraft. The three-engine super-stretch, which the company hopes to launch in 1994, would be 35 feet longer than the MD-11, while an extra passenger deck would mean it could carry as many as 520 people, compared to 290 in the MD-11.