During its maiden flight on Oct. 16, 1997, the 777-300 took off into clear, sunny skies and reached a maximum altitude of 17,000 feet (5,100 meters). Decked out in a Boeing paint scheme of red, white and blue stripes on a polished aluminum fuselage, the airplane headed north above Puget Sound, passing over the San Juan Islands. Turning west, the world's longest commercial jetliner soared above the Strait of Juan de Fuca and out to the Pacific Ocean, west of the snow-crowned Olympic Mountains. It returned through the strait and a landing at Boeing Field in Seattle.