Evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization Samaritan’s Purse is set to gather in Greensboro on Friday to celebrate the retirement of its Douglas DC-8 aircraft. The plane will turn off for the last time, as it will be replaced by a more modern 
Boeing 767. These aircraft are part of its Airlift Response Center, which supports aviation operations transporting millions of pounds of cargo to countries and communities that need support during natural disasters, conflicts, or humanitarian crises.
The DC-8, registration N782SP, has been part of Samaritan’s Purse fleet since 2015. It was refurbished and re-engined on purchase, and has been the organization’s dedicated heavy lift aircraft. Before its life with Samaritan’s Purse, it operated for Finnair in 1968, before being transferred to the French Air Force, and Air Transport International.
217 Missions
Throughout the aircraft’s tenure with the evangelical organisation, it has carried more than 9.2 million pounds (4,173 tons) of aid to locations around the world, such as Haiti, Ethiopia, the Bahamas, and Ukraine, on 217 missions. These missions have included delivering field hospitals, water systems, blankets, medical supplies, and generators to those in need.
Its most recent aid missions have included support for Jamaica following the destructive trail of devastation from Hurricane Melissa. The aircraft flew more than 40,000 pounds (18 tonnes) of supplies to the Caribbean country, and worked alongside the Boeing 767 on this mission, which delivered its first mobile emergency hospital. Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse, commented on the DC-8’s dedication as released on the organization’s website:
“God has used this DC-8 cargo plane to impact hundreds of thousands of lives—and He is using it right up to the very end of its service life. As we retire the DC-8, we are grateful to God for the 767 taking its place.”
Last U.S. Registered DC-8
This airplane has continued to garner attention for many years, even up to its retirement, due to N782SP being the last registered Douglas DC-8 in operation. The crew has spent hours onboard and has treated the aircraft like a colleague. The organization recalled how, during international missions, many visitors would come out to see the aircraft, looking to capture a picture inside or outside of the aircraft, remembering the generation of these aircraft that once flew.
The DC-8 was one of the first wave of American jetliners that revolutionized air travel in the 1950s and 1960s. Taking its first flight in 1958, the DC-8 competed directly against the Boeing 707. Although the DC-8 never outsold the 707, it outlived the Boeing variant, with many DC-8s becoming cargo aircraft.
For the organizations, it has decided that after almost six decades of flying, the DC-8’s airframe was nearing its structural life limits, and sourcing spare parts has become increasingly challenging. The decision to move to a Boeing 767 for humanitarian missions will allow greater onboard cargo capacity and improve reliability with more modern systems. The 767 has already been working hard for the organization, ferrying food packets, blankets, and solar lights to Gaza, while also operating to Jamaica, as previously noted.
The Last Two Active DC-8s
While N782SP was the last U.S.-registered DC-8 in operation, data from ch-aviation identified that two other DC-8s remain active. SkyBus Cargo Charters, registered in Peru, operates OB-2231P (serial number 46125) and has racked up more than 55.75 years of dedicated service. The aircraft started its life with Air Canada back in 1970 under Canadian registration CF-TIS for passenger operations.
It was later converted for cargo operations in 1982, before being sold to Astar Air Cargo, a Miami-based carrier that ceased operations in 2012. The airplane was eventually transferred to SkyBus Cargo Charters on December 12, 2017; however remained under the US registration N805DH up until September 15, 2022.
The only other surviving DC-8 is that of the Democratic Republic of the Congo airline, Trans Air Cargo Service. Bearing registration 9S-AJO (serial number 46133), the aircraft initially operated passenger services for World Airways, Capitol International Airways, Viasa, and World Airways from 1971 through to 1984 under US registration N801WA, before being converted for cargo in 1986. The aircraft then took on a new life with Emery Worldwide and Gestair Cargo from 1984 to 2011, before being acquired by Trans Air Cargo Service in November 2011.
