ANA Tests the 787

Over the past week and a half, hundreds of spectators watched at several of Japan’s largest airports while ANA and Boeing conducted service ready operational validation tests on ZA002, the second 787 and one of the six dedicated test planes. It’s important to make that distinction because customer-bound 787s are now flying, including ZA102, which appears to be undergoing ETOPS tests by flying repeatedly to Hawaii and Guam.

The operational validation tests gave ANA staff and crew a chance to get familiar with the aircraft, the first of which is expected to be delivered later this year. Teams from ANA went through hundreds of normal operational procedures such as pushback and towing, cargo loading, and fueling.

As Air France did last year with the A380, when ANA receives the first group of aircraft, they will at first be confined to shorter length operations, while crews get trained. The first route will either be Haneda-Okayama or Haneda-Hiroshima.

This photo was taken on a very unusual evening in Everett back in May, with dark clouds off to the east but bright, low-angle sun to the west.

Photographer: Alex Kwanten.