C919 Finally Completes First Flight | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-05.19.25

Airborne-NextGen-05.20.25

AirborneUnlimited-05.21.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-05.22.25

AirborneUnlimited-05.23.25

Fri, May 05, 2017

C919 Finally Completes First Flight

China Looks To Compete With Boeing, Airbus In Single Aisle Market

The Chinese-built C919 made its first flight Friday following a delay of three years. The aircraft was to have originally flown in 2014, but production and other issues continually delayed the milestone. 

Still, COMAC, the state-owned company manufacturing the C919, is hopeful that the Chinese airliner will one day be competitive with single-aisle aircraft from Boeing and Airbus, the two big dogs in that space. 

Reuters reports that the initial flight of the C919 lasted about 80 minutes. It flew over the Yangtze River delta where it performed several maneuvers before returning south along the coast to land back at Shanghai International Airport. The plane flew at an altitude of about 10,000 feet at speeds up to 161 knots.

A letter from China's ministerial cabinet was read after the plane landed. The cabinet called the first flight a "major breakthrough" in the country's passenger jet industry. The flight went smoothly, and all systems functioned as designed, according to the minister of industry.

COMAC began work on the C919 in 2008.  And many years of flight testing may lie ahead for certification in China, let alone the U.S. and Europe. It was six years between first flight and Chinese certification for the country's first indigenous airliner, the ARJ-21. 

(Image from YouTube video posted by CGTN)

FMI: english.comac.cc

Advertisement

More News

Oshkosh Memories: An Aero-News Stringer Perspective

From 2021: The Inside Skinny On What Being An ANN Oshkosh Stringer Is All About By ANN Senior Stringer Extraordinare, Gene Yarbrough The annual gathering at Oshkosh is a right of p>[...]

NTSB Prelim: Piper PA32RT

Video Showed That During The Takeoff, The Nose Baggage Door Was Open On May 10, 2025, about 0935 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-32RT-300, N30689, was destroyed when it was invol>[...]

ANN FAQ: Follow Us On Instagram!

Get The Latest in Aviation News NOW on Instagram Are you on Instagram yet? It's been around for a few years, quietly picking up traction mostly thanks to everybody's new obsession >[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (05.28.25)

"I think what is key, we have offered a bonus to air traffic controllers who are eligible to retire. We are going to pay them a 20% bonus on their salary to stay longer. Don't reti>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.28.25): Pilot Briefing

Aero Linx: Pilot Briefing The gathering, translation, interpretation, and summarization of weather and aeronautical information into a form usable by the pilot or flight supervisor>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC