American Airlines flight reaches 840 mph and possible world record: Global Ratings

An American Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Doha, Qatar, reached 840 mph and landed almost 30 minutes early due to strong tailwinds, which could shatter a world record.

On Saturday, American Flight 120 on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner took off from Philadelphia around 9:25 p.m. Eastern and landed at 4:57 p.m. in Doha, according to FlightAware. The Fort Worth-based airline confirmed the flight landed approximately 30 minutes early due to the strong tailwinds midflight. The same flight on Sunday also arrived about 30 minutes early due to the tailwinds.

According to FlightAware, the flight’s jet stream, or winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere, reached 265 mph. The flight’s ground speed was above the speed of sound of 767 miles per hour but didn’t make a sonic boom because it was moving at normal cruising speed in relation to the air around it.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records’ website, the fastest transatlantic flight on a commercial airplane was a flight from New York to London, which was last recorded on a British Airways flight on Feb. 9, 2020. An extratropical cyclone occurred in the plane’s flight path, but the air mass around the plane was moving up to 260 mph. That led to the plane traveling at 825 mph with its surroundings, according to the World Records’ website.

Guinness Book of World Records officials did not respond immediately to a request for confirmation of a record break.

The overall record for the fastest transatlantic flight is held by the retired supersonic Concorde jet, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. On Feb. 7, 1996, a British Airways Concorde flew between New York and London at an average speed of 1,250 mph in 2 hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds.

On Sept. 20, 1973, a Concorde supersonic jet landed on American soil for the first time, marking the dedication of what is known today as DFW International Airport. DFW Airport is celebrating 50 years in operation this year.

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