HOW WE FLY
PHIL HEARD salutes the very first Boeing 777 as it flies into retirement – and the history books全球首架波音777客機完成使命光榮退休，從此名留青史， Phil Heard在此向它致敬
As the very first Boeing 777 retires from duty, PHIL HEARD remembers its time with the airline
ON 18 SEPTEMBER, a piece of aviation history rose into the skies above Hong Kong for the last time. The aircraft was a Boeing 777, B-HNL as she was registered in Cathay Pacific colours. Why ‘historic’? This was the first ever 777 off the line, with the manufacturer’s number WA001 (affectionately pronounced ‘wah-wun’).
She wasn’t destined for Cathay Pacific at all. On a spring Seattle day in 2000, Peter Gardner, Cathay Pacific’s then VicePresident of Engineering in the US, received a call from Hong Kong. They needed another aircraft to deal with anticipated demand during the Christmas peak season.
Barging into the production queue for a new 777 wasn’t on the cards. But Peter’s eye had been caught by a bedraggled airframe in the corner of Boeing’s production facility. ‘It had been there for years…it had no engines, no flight controls, no avionics, no seats, nothing,’ he says.
It was WA001. Having completed the rigorous test programme she had been cannibalised. Peter approached Boeing to see if she could be rebuilt at a reasonable price – and quickly.
In the end nearly 5,000 people contributed to its construction, incentivised by a prize draw for 30 winners who would bag a place on the delivery flight for a Hong Kong Christmas shopping trip.
‘As we were walking towards the gate through the terminal we heard a tremendous noise,’ recalls retired Captain Andy Maddox, who was part of the cockpit crew that day. ‘As we got closer, we saw there was a bar and it was the sound of the Boeing people having a jolly good time.’
‘I turned to the flight officer saying that I’d never felt so confident because whatever happened on the flight there’d be someone who could fix it.’
B-HNL landed safely in Hong Kong to start her 18 year career with Cathay, operating more than 20,000 flights. She will be spending her retirement in the Arizona desert as a centrepiece of the Pima Air and Space Museum.
She was flown there by a team led by Captain Mike Evans. His first memory of WA001 was sitting on the cockpit floor in the Boeing factory as she was being built, testing the undercarriage with engineers. Now she has gone; but with so many firsts to her name, she won’t be forgotten.
9月日18 ，印有國泰航空標誌，註冊編號B- HNL的波音777客機最後一次飛上香港上空。這件事有何歷史意義？因為這架飛機是全球首架生產的777客機，生產商給它的編號為WA001（音譯讀作「嘩溫」）。
這架飛機本來並非為國泰而製造的。2000年春天，時任國泰航空美國工程部副總裁的Peter Gardner在西雅圖接到香港的來電，說他們需要增添一架客機，以便應付聖誕旺季的需要。
當時已來不及安排趕製一架全新的 777客機，但Peter想起在波音公司的廠房內，曾經見過一個機身的空殼被丟在一角。他表示：「那個機身放在那裡已有很多年，引擎、飛行系統、航空電子設備、座位等通通欠奉。」
那就是WA001的前身。這架飛機在完成嚴格的測試後被解體。Peter向波音公司查詢，看看這架飛機是否能以合理價格重新組裝，而且可以迅速完成工程。
公司為了鼓勵同事積極參與這項工程，於是舉辦大抽獎，獲獎者可獲WA001首航的機票，到香港作聖誕購物之旅，名額30個。結果，有接近5,000人參與建造這架飛機。
現已退休的機師Andy Maddox是首航日在駕駛艙中工作的一員，他回憶當時的情況說：「我們從客運大樓走到登機閘口時，聽到非常巨大的聲浪，走近之後發現，那裡有個酒吧，波音的員工正在談笑喧鬧，享受歡樂時光。」
「我向機組人員表示，自己從未如此信心十足，因為機上無論發生什麼事，總會有人能夠解決。」
B- HNL順利抵達香港，從此展開於國泰18年的服務生涯，飛行班次超過20,000班。航機榮休後將被運往亞利桑那州的沙漠，成為Pima Air and Space Museum航空及太空博物館的重要展品。
護送WA001踏上退休歸途的，是由
Mike Evans機長所率領的團隊負責。他對這架飛機的第一印象，是於波音公司廠房內，與多位工程師一起坐在駕駛艙的地板上，測試起落架的功能，那時飛機的建造工程仍在進行中。WA001在服務期間曾經創下多項先河，雖然現已榮休，但人們卻不會忘記它。