Boeing 707 Douglas competition, Boeing soon realized this would not provide a viable payload, so it widened the fuselage to to allow five-abreast seating and use of the KC-135's tooling. Douglas Aircraft had launched its DC-8 with a fuselage width of . The airlines liked the extra space and six-abreast seating, so Boeing increased the 707's width again to compete, this time to . The first flight of the first-production 707-120 took place on December 20, 1957, and FAA certification followed on September 18, 1958. Both test pilots Joseph John "Tym" Tymczyszyn and James R. Gannett were awarded the first Iven C.
1977 British Airtours Boeing 707 crash 1977 British Airtours Boeing 707 crash On 17 March 1977 a British Airtours Boeing 707 being used for pilot training crashed and caught fire during its take-off roll at Glasgow Prestwick Airport. All four crew members on board survived. The aircraft was a Boeing 707-436, registered as G-APFK, and first flew in 1960. Its construction number was 17712 and its four engines were Rolls-Royce Conway 508 turbines. The aircraft entered service with BOAC on 29 September 1960, transferred to BEA Airtours on 30 December 1971 and finally British Airtours on 1 April 1974. Onboard were: a 29-year-old first officer trainee;