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Hong Kong to London is Flight Record

Posted on: Monday, 14 November 2005, 03:01 CST

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 and 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.

Mr. 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 27 passengers and crew.

Source: Augusta Chronicle, The

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