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Boeing airplane in record-breaking flight
LONDON - A Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner has earned the distinction of making the longest non-stop journey by a commercial airplane. Boeing completed the 13,422-mile journey yesterday thus beating the previous record of 10,823 miles that was set by the aircraft in 1989.
The aircraft flew from Hong Kong to London the 'wrong' way. It crossed two oceans, the Pacific and the Atlantic and took in the United States before landing at London's Heathrow airport at 1:18 p.m. local time on Thursday. The total flight time was 22 hours, 42 minutes, a fact that was noted by a representative of Guinness World Records.
A certificate to this effect was presented to Boeing's Lars Andersen. Captain Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann, who was at the controls when the flight began from Hog Kong said that the ride across the Pacific was not all that comfortable, "But we had a great ride across the United States … and across the Atlantic we saw our second sunrise of the trip," she said.
The plane was serviced by four pilots and had 35 passengers and crew. These included Boeing representatives, 11 journalists and a BBC cameraman. The flight started from Hong Kong on Wednesday, flew into Thursday when it crossed over the Pacific, then slipped back into Wednesday at the International Dateline and then finally landed on Thursday.
Boeing's stunt has a very commercial purpose. Qantas, Singapore, Emirates and Cathay Pacific are all looking at the 777-200LR for ultra-long-haul flights. Boeing itself wanted to prove that it is possible to fly non-stop between any two cities, for example from London to Sydney. The success of the flight gives Boeing a distinct edge over rival Airbus. "We believe it is important to keep building the image of this plane and its capabilities," Andersen said. "This flight underscores our strategy of point-to-point service."
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Written
by :
Kavindra Rani | Published on :
13:12:00
EST
Fri, 11 Nov 2005 |
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