SEATTLE, Dec. 15, 2009 – The Boeing (NYSE: BA) 787 Dreamliner took to the sky for the first time today, ushering a new era in air travel as it departed before an estimated crowd of more than 12,000 employees and guests at Paine Field in Everett, Wash.
The newest member of the Boeing family of commercial jetliners, shown here in flight, flew for approximately three hours, landing at 1:33 p.m. local time.
Today’s flight was the first of a rigorous test program through 2010, culminating in first delivery in the fourth quarter. After takeoff from Everett, the airplane followed a route over the east end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and back to Boeing Field in Seattle, its home for the rest of its flight-test period.