Boeing Says 787 Airworthiness Tests Positive
By wchung | 22 Mar, 2026

In this file photo made Dec. 15, 2009,the first production Boeing 787 takes off on it's inaugural flight from Paine Field in Everett, Wash. Boeing said Sunday, March 28, 2010, the results of a key airworthiness test for its long delayed 787 are positive, but it will be weeks before the aircraft maker can deem it a success.(AP Photo/John Froschauer, file)

Boeing Co. said the results of a key airworthiness test for its long delayed 787 are “positive,” but it will be weeks before the aircraft maker can say whether it’s a success.

The aircraft maker said Sunday the test involved flexing the jet’s wings while applying loads to the frame to replicate 150 percent of the most extreme forces the airplane could experience in flight.

The wings were pushed up about 25 feet during the ground test performed at Boeing’s Everett, Wash., factory.

The test took more than two hours, and thousands of pieces of data were collected to measure wing performance.

Boeing, based in Chicago, says the data will be reviewed over the next several weeks.

Boeing has been testing the plane and its systems for more than three months, after production delays and problems with carbon-fiber composite materials used in the plane put it nearly three years behind schedule. The first test plane made an unplanned landing last month after an engine lost thrust.

Japan’s All Nippon Airways is scheduled for the first delivery of the 787 later this year. Boeing says airlines around the world have ordered 851 of the aircraft.

The largest 787 model has a range of up to 3,050 miles and can carry as many as 330 passengers.

NEW YORK (AP)