Boeing has completed the fourth and final phase of simulator evaluations of the 777-9 flight deck, with airline pilots from around the world taking part in the process. The multi-year program was designed to assess whether the flight deck enables crews to safely perform all required operational tasks. More than 200 customer airline pilots participated in the testing, and Boeing will submit the collected data to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA, as part of the aircraft’s certification process.
The 777-9, the world’s largest twin-engine passenger aircraft, is the first Boeing aircraft to use simulator evaluations with line pilots to help demonstrate compliance with the latest human factors requirements governing flight deck design. The FAA issued updated human factors guidance following the Aircraft Certification, Safety & Accountability Act of 2020, which was introduced after lessons learned from the 737 MAX accidents in 2018 and 2019.
During the final phase of testing, crews from five customer airlines flew a range of scenarios in Boeing’s simulator in Seattle. These included full gate-to-gate flights as well as shorter profiles focused on specific aspects of the design. Boeing intentionally introduced system malfunctions and abnormal situations during the simulations, requiring crews to react in real time, use the appropriate checklists and complete the flight safely. The goal was not to test rehearsed responses, but to obtain unbiased reactions from crews who did not know what would happen during the scenario.
Boeing engineers and test pilots observed crew decisions, cockpit communication, system use, responses to alerts and interaction with controls. According to the company, the final phase included a comprehensive review of the flight deck, from displays and switches to checklists and alerting systems. The scenarios were prepared over several months to reflect real airline operations as closely as possible, including the everyday flow of a commercial flight.
According to Boeing, the full human factors evaluation program lasted three years and included four phases of testing across seven locations: Dubai, Frankfurt, Gatwick, Hong Kong, Miami, Seattle and Singapore. About 70 flight scenarios were developed, 118 days of testing were conducted, and more than 800 hours of preparation were completed in Boeing’s engineering simulator for the fourth phase alone, across more than 150 planning sessions. Observers recorded more than 10,000 notes during the final phase, documenting crew behavior and responses to the simulated conditions.
The 777-9 flight deck was developed with a high level of commonality with Boeing’s existing 777 and 787 Dreamliner models, while also introducing several new features. These include large-format displays with touchscreen capability, an option for dual head-up displays similar to the 787, a redesigned pilot seat and a dedicated control and indicator for the aircraft’s folding wingtips, clearly showing whether the wingtips are extended, in motion or folded.
The completion of this phase marks an important step for the 777X program, which has gone through a prolonged development and certification process in recent years. Boeing says delivery of the first 777-9 in 2027 remains one of the program’s key priorities. The company also notes that insights gathered during these evaluations will support not only the certification of the 777-9, but also the development of future Boeing aircraft.
