Boeing 777 Makes Its First Flight

Boeing Co.’s 777 jet took off Sunday on its first flight, launching an ambitious testing program for the manufacturer’s latest model.

The world’s largest twin-engine jet took off for its test flight from a runway near the huge manufacturing plant here where the plane is assembled.

The plane, which represents Boeing’s riskiest venture since the jumbo 747 jet of the mid-1960s, had a payload of nearly 40,000 pounds of equipment. A T-33 military training plane that shadowed the craft was dwarfed by it.

A 12-knot tail wind caused some concern and delayed takeoff by 45 minutes, but finally the pilot and co-pilot--the only two people aboard--decided to follow the original flight plan and took off to the north for a flight that lasted three hours and 48 minutes, most of it over water.

The 777, scheduled to be delivered next May to its launch customer, United Airlines, is intended to fill a gap in Boeing’s product line and compete against jets made by Airbus Industrie and McDonnell Douglas Corp.