Boeing airplane flies at record speed of 801 MPH

If you are a frequent flier, maybe you already know that your plane ride can be sped up or slowed down because of the jet stream winds. That is what happened on Monday evening when a plane going from Los Angeles to London reached a ground speed of 801 miles per hour while flying over central Pennsylvania. This is a new record speed for a Boeing 787 airplane. The record was set because the jet stream wind was abnormally strong.

This could not happen any time of year. That is because the jet stream winds are stronger during winter than they are in summer. The bigger the temperature difference is on the north and south side of the jet stream, the stronger the wind is, and during the winter, temperatures are much colder in New York than they are in South Carolina.

The maximum wind speed in the jet stream Monday night was over 230 miles per hour, which is a record speed as well. This maximum wind speed was reached in the jet streak, an area of the jet stream with the strongest winds. That jet streak was over New York and Pennsylvania. Other planes that were flying in this area also reached some very high speeds!

A flight from Los Angeles to New York City reached 678 mph, Chicago to New York reached 700 MPH, and Dallas to Boston reached 739 mph. Normally, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flies at a cruising speed of 561 MPH, meaning the Boeing 787’s Monday night flight flew 240 MPH faster than normal.

This weekend the jet stream will be moving fast again with winds 150 to 160 miles per hour. This will help or hurt any airplanes flying around the east coast.