With 50 passengers and crew traveling non-stop for nearly 20 hours from New York to Sydney, the world’s longest flight has successfully been tested.
Qantas Flight 7879 traveled (10,066 miles) 16,200km in 19 hours and 16 minutes – touching down in Australia early on Sunday morning with fuel to spare.
The journey on a new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was an experiment to see how ultra-long-haul travel affects those on board.
It currently impossible for commercial aircraft to fly such a distance with a full load of passengers and cargo.
To ensure the plane could go the distance, the flight had maximum fuel, a restricted baggage load, and no cargo.
A team of researchers was deployed to monitor lighting and activity – as well as the sleep patterns and consumption levels of passengers.
They also kept a close eye on the brain patterns of pilots and crew melatonin levels during the flight.
