Maiden Flight of Boeing 737

Date: April 9, 1967 • Location: Washington, United States

The Boeing 737 took its maiden flight, eventually becoming the most produced commercial passenger jet airliner in the world.

The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its factories in Washington state. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retained the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating but with two underwing Pratt & Whitney JT8D low-bypass turbofan engines. Envisioned in 1964, the initial 737-100 made its first flight in April 1967 and entered service in February 1968 with Lufthansa. The lengthened 737-200 entered service in April 1968, and evolved through four generations, offering several variants for 85 to 215 passengers.