20111776 Club
Regulators clear the 787 Dreamliner to fly paying passengers
Seven years after launch and years behind schedule, Boeing's composite airliner has the paperwork it needs.
The 787 program had absorbed seven years of delays before Boeing got a certified airplane. On August 26, 2011, the Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency both granted type certification to the 787 Dreamliner, clearing Boeing's first airliner built primarily of composite materials for commercial service. The dual sign-off meant the plane could fly for airlines on both sides of the Atlantic without separate approval fights. Within weeks, the first Dreamliner left Everett, Washington, for its launch customer in Tokyo…
