A crew and passengers undergoing constant vetting, scientifically sound tricks to combat jet lag and enough kerosene to make it to the final destination: welcome aboard the first non-stop flight from New York to Sydney.
Australian airline Qantas made the journey, 16,200 kilometers in 19 hours and 16 minutes, to see if such flights are feasible, and how the journey could be made easier for passengers and crew. This morning the Boeing Dreamliner landed safely at the airport in the Australian city, with fuel left on board for 70 minutes, “more than enough”.
“We are really happy with how the flight went,” the captain said on arrival. “It’s great that the data we are now collecting is being used to see if this can become a regular flight.”
Qantas director Alan Joyce, who was on board, called the flight “historic for Qantas, for Australian aviation and for aviation in general”. “We’re going to ask people what they thought of it, what worked and what didn’t, and we’re going to measure what it yields.”
Brain activity and urine samples
For this test flight, the Dreamliner, with space for 236 passengers, had only fifty people on board. They included a team of four pilots, six other crew members, journalists and six passengers who were invited to rebook their regular flights to Australia.
In addition, there was no cargo on board, so that as much fuel as possible could be taken along.
Crew and passengers were constantly monitored along the way to see what the effect of the super-long flight was. The pilots’ brain activity was constantly measured, their melatonin level was recorded with urine samples (a hormone that influences the sleep rhythm) and passengers had to play games before, during and after the flight to determine the effect on their reaction time.
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