B-777 on first flight

EVERETT, Wash (Reuter): Boeing Co's 777 jet took off Sunday on its first flight, launching an ambitious testing program for the manufacturer's latest model.

The world's largest twin-engine jet took off for an anticipated three-hour test flight at about 2:45 P.M. EDT (1845 GMT) from a runway near the huge manufacturing plant here where the plane is assembled.

The plane, which represents Boeing's riskiest venture since the jumbo 747 jet of the mid-1960s, took off with a payload of nearly 40,000 pounds of equipment. A T-33 military training plane which shadowed the craft was also dwarfed by it.

A 12-knot tail wind caused some concern and delayed takeoff by 45 minutes, but finally the pilot and co-pilot -- the only two passengers aboard -- decided to follow the original flight plan and took off to the north for a flight mostly over water.

The 777, scheduled to be delivered in May 1995 to its launch customer, United Airlines, is intended to fill a gap in Boeing's product line and compete against jets made by Airbus Industrie and McDonnell Douglas Corp.