Boeing's 13,422-Mile Flight Sets a Record
Posted on: Thursday, 10 November 2005, 15:00 CST
By EMILY BEHLMANN
LONDON - A Boeing Co. jet arrived in London from Hong Kong on Thursday, breaking the record for the longest nonstop flight by a commercial jet. The 777-200LR Worldliner - one of Boeing's newest planes - touched down shortly after 1 p.m. (8 a.m. EST) at London's Heathrow Airport after a journey of more than 13,422 miles. The previous record was set when a Boeing 747-400 flew 10,500 miles from London to Sydney in 1989.
A representative of Guinness World Records, which monitored the flight, presented Boeing's Lars Andersen with a certificate confirming it was for the longest nonstop commercial flight.
Captain Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann, was at the controls when the plane left Hong Kong, said the trip east across the Pacific had been bumpy.
"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 jet spent 22 hours and 43 minutes in the air.
Andersen said the Hong Kong-to-London flight showed the future of air travel.
"With the 777-200LR, we are changing the world," he said. "Passengers can fly commercially between just about any two cities nonstop."
The plane had eight pilots and was carrying an additional 27 passengers and crew, including Boeing representatives, journalists and customers.
The record-breaking attempt is part of Boeing's fierce competition with its European rival Airbus. The Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner was designed to compete directly with the popular Airbus 340-500, which has a flight range of 10,380 miles.
Boeing said that after leaving Hong Kong, the jet flew across the northern Pacific Ocean before reaching North America, where it flew over Los Angeles, then slightly south of Chicago and over New York before cruising over the Atlantic Ocean to London. Hong Kong-London flights usually fly over Russia.
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On the Net:
The plane's flight path can be tracked at http://www.777.newairplane.com
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
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