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The Boeing 777X program has resumed certification testing after a five-month pause due to thrust link issues discovered during a test flight in Hawaii. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had initially authorized certification flights in July of the previous year, but the process was delayed when technicians found severed and cracked thrust links on the test aircraft.
Boeing is now focused on achieving certification to ensure that the aircraft can enter service with launch customer Lufthansa by mid-2026. According to Boeing, "The certification flight testing will continue validating the airplane’s safety, reliability, and performance. We still have a long road ahead to ensure that we deliver the next generation of the world’s best-selling widebody to our customers next year, and we appreciate our regulator’s rigorous oversight."
Certification testing includes static testing, fatigue testing, material testing, performance evaluation under different conditions, stability assessments, stall behavior analysis, environmental performance tests in extreme weather conditions like icing and turbulence, system functionality checks for avionics and hydraulics under various scenarios, and thorough data review for FAA compliance.
