Article Posted on : - Apr 09, 2010

Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Photo Boeing

EVERETT (US) (AP): Boeing Co. says the stress tests for its new 787 jetliner's wing and fuselage went as planned.

On March 28, workers at Boeing's Everett, Washington, plant bent the wing of a special test 787 by 150 per cent of the most extreme forces it would experience in flight -- about 25 feet upward at the wing tip. They also pressurised the fuselage to 150 per cent of its maximum normal operating condition.

The head of the 787 program, Scott Fancher, said in a news release Thursday that a thorough analysis of the results showed the aircraft performed as designed.

Chicago-based Boeing has been testing the new plane for more than three months, after production delays and problems with carbon-fiber composite materials put it nearly three years behind schedule.