MRJ's First Test Flight in U.S. Conducted Successfully

Nagoya, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press)--The Mitsubishi Regional Jet, the first Japanese-developed small passenger jet, has conducted its first test flight in the United States without any major problem, the jet's developer said Tuesday. The first aircraft from the MRJ left Grant County International Airport in the U.S. state of Washington on Monday afternoon local time and flew for three hours and 18 minutes, according to Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp., based in the town of Toyoyama in the central Japan prefecture of Aichi. The second, third and fourth units of the MRJ are slated to arrive in the United States in stages to participate in the flight test. Using the four planes, the firm will accelerate the test, mainly to check the aircraft's safety, as it aims to start the delivery of the MRJ in mid-2018. Some 2,500 hours of test flights are required for the MRJ to acquire type certification, which is needed for commercial operations. Mitsubishi Aircraft plans to conduct more than 90 pct of the practical flights in areas around the airport in the city of Moses Lake, where weather conditions are favorable. <7011> END