The B777-200LR: "It was like no other flight!"

[East New York]

boeing.com By Bernard Choi

 

"It was like no other flight"- It's a page in aviation history only 35 people experienced first hand in November 2005.

 

They were the pilots and passengers onboard Boeing's 777-200LR Worldliner when it broke the non-stop distance record for commercial airplanes. The flight from Hong Kong to London crossed two vast oceans and a continent as it spanned 11,664 nautical miles. (Note: 11,664nm=13,432 statue miles!)

 

"You can go your whole career as a pilot and never have something like that happen," said Suzanna Darcy-Henneman, the project pilot for the 777-200LR.

 

On the fifth anniversary of that record-breaking flight, Darcy-Henneman and a few of the lucky passengers reminisced about the nearly 23-hour journey.

 

"It was like no other flight any of us had ever been a part of," said James Wallace, one of the journalists who chronicled the flight.

 

"Every one there knew it was going to be a special event," said Randy Tinseth, Boeing vice president of Marketing.

 

While the 777-200LR was designed to fly farther than any other commercial airplane, the path to the world record was not easy and the team needed a few factors to work in their favor.

 

 

See photos, videos, and read the complete story on the epic event in aviation history right here!

 

 

 

 

 

Photo and Video Courtesy Delta Air Lines

 

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK_FafqILjk&feature=player_embedded