C919 flies toward air worthiness

Like all his colleagues at the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), Cyrille Breard, the manager of the C919 program's noise and emissions project, is working against the clock as China's domestically-made passenger plane is undergoing a series of tests before acquiring its airworthiness certificates.

The large aircraft "has been a big dream", said the 48-year-old engineer from the United States, who joined COMAC in 2011. "Now it's a dream coming true."

After making its maiden flight in May, the C919 jetliner flew more than 1,300 kilometers to the Yanliang testing base in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, on Nov 10 for more tests.