summary
- Qatar Airways’ Boeing 787-9 test flight was reportedly diverted due to a problem during the customer acceptance flight.
- The aircraft took off from PAE and flew in a figure eight pattern, reaching a maximum altitude of 26,000 feet.
- This is a rare occurrence, as customer acceptance flights usually go off without a hitch. The aircraft to be delivered will be Qatar Airways’ 15th Boeing 787-9.
A Qatar Airways Boeing 787-9 that was conducting a customer acceptance flight on November 10 was listed as having diverted due to a problem. The aircraft was assembled in 2020 and was undergoing its eighth test flight before being delivered to a Middle Eastern airline.
Flight and aircraft details
According to data on the website Aviation Flights, the Qatar-registered A7-BHK Boeing 787-9 was on a customer acceptance flight when it “diverted and returned to PAE due to an issue.” PAE is the IATA code for Paine Field in Everett, also known as Seattle Paine Field International Airport.
According to Flightradar24, the plane took off from PAE at 11:33 local time and returned to the airport around 12:12. The jet flew in a large figure eight until it reached Olympic National Park. The highest altitude he reached was 26,000 feet (FL260).
Photo: Flightradar24
The aircraft has serial number (MSN) 64221 and line number 1063 and conducted its first test flight in October 2020. It was then ferried to Victorville for storage, where it remained until April 2023, at which point it returned to Paine Field. After remaining on the ground for six months at PAE, it performed a functional verification flight on October 11, before flying to Portland (PDX) for painting a few days later.
rare event
This type of status is definitely rare when tracking airmail pre-delivery activity. Typically, a customer acceptance flight goes off without a hitch, followed eventually by a delivery flight to the airline’s customer.
Although it is rare for airlines to mark their flights with: Diverted due to problem, test flights are often marked as “diverted” on flight tracking platforms such as Flightradar24. This is because test flights are private and the automation records information in a specific way. For example, a Gulf Air 787-9 customer acceptance flight on November 10 traveled from Paine Field to Moses Lake and back to Paine Field. Aviation Flights recorded these takeoffs and landings as a single test flight event, but Flightradar24 notes that the flight was “diverted” to Moses Lake.
Simple Flying has reached out to Boeing for confirmation and further information on this report, but the company has not responded.
Qatar Airways’ 45th 787
Regardless of whether there is an actual problem, the jet is scheduled to be Qatar Airways’ 15th Boeing 787-9 and 45th 787 overall. Deliveries of the 787-9 to Qatar Airways have been trickling in recent months as Boeing works to clear the backlog of undelivered aircraft. Two aircraft he arrived in September 2023 and one he delivered in August 2023. At this point, the aircraft has been in service for 2-3 years.
source: Plane Spotters.net, flight radar 24, Air mail