HAWAII- On September 6, 2024, the US plane maker’s newest widebody aircraft model, Boeing 777X made a return to the skies after a temporary grounding by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on August 19, 2024.
Boeing discovered broken thrust links, which are designed to transfer the force from the thrust of the engine into the airframe. These planes are powered by the world’s largest jet engine, GE9X.
Boeing 777X Returns to Skies
The broken thrust links were found on 777-9 registered as N779XY. The aircraft rolled out of the production facility as a testbed plane 4.1 years ago. Further, it is set to be delivered to Lufthansa (LH) after it gets FAA Type Certificate (TC).
According to FlightRadar24 data, the Boeing 777X operated flight BOE003 from Kailua-Kona (KOA), Hawaii on Friday (Sep 6, 2024). After performing ground tests, 777-9 took off from KOA at 10:17 AM UTC.
It performed low-altitude tests, mostly flying at FL149 (14,900 feet) before landing back at KOA. N779XY remained airborne for around one hour and 26 minutes.
Currently, there are four production 777X (777-9) aircraft. The registration and other details as reported by Planspotters.net are as follows:
- N779XW– The first aircraft, rolled out in March 2019
- N779XX, Active since April 2020
- N779XY, Active since Aug 2020
- N779XZ and it’s active since Sep 2020
Also Read: Why Boeing’s 777X Not a Good Fit for United Airlines
Delays in Production
The project which has been in development since 2013 has faced significant delays due to various reasons.
Boeing has previously scheduled deliveries for 2025, already five years behind the original plan.
Even, Emirates Chairman Tim Clark has said that he expects further delays in certification and it will slip to the 2025 end. Some CEOs even said that the launch would be delayed till 2026.
Well, we know that Boeing has been under heavy scrutiny since 2019 firstly due to the 737 MAX crash, then due to Alaska Airlines (AS) flight door blowout incident, and recently due to whistleblowers revealing discrepancies in the manufacturing process.
Despite delays, Boeing’s 777X program has achieved a significant milestone, Around 480 firm orders and 500+ with options from 14 customers for its passenger and freighter variants as of June 2024.
The 777X family comprises 777-8 and 777-9 passenger variants along with the 777-8 Freighter version.
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