Second MRJ-90 arrives at Grant County International Airport

MOSES LAKE — The Mitsubishi Regional Jet No. 1 arrived at Grant County International Airport in late September to global recognition and a press conference in both Japanese and English, so television crews and reporters could send the breaking news back to Japan.

The arrival of the second MRJ-90 — Japan's first homegrown jet airliner — had far less fanfare on Friday. MRJ No. 4 touched down at 1:30 p.m. on the 13,500-foot runway, then taxied in to join MRJ No. 1. There it received rousing applause from nearly 100 Mitsubishi and AeroTec employees gathered in front of the 65,000-square-foot hangar, which will house the regional jets while they are being flight-tested in Moses Lake.

Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. are conducting their flight tests with the assistance of the Moses Lake Flight Test Center at Grant County International Airport, Seattle Engineering Center and Mitsubishi Aircraft Headquarters in Japan.

“My colleagues and I are very excited to have the second jet here,” said Hitoshi “Hank” Iwasa, executive vice president and deputy head of Moses Lake Flight Test Center. “We expect to start flight tests within the week. No. 4 has been tested in Japan, approximately 45 to 50 hours.”

Mitsubishi Aircraft began test-flying the first jet in Moses Lake on Oct. 17. The first test flight lasted around three hours. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries plans to carry out 2,500 hours of flight testing to gain the certification needed to fly commercially.

“Things are going as expected with the testing. No. 1 has been in the air many times since. With the arrival of the second jet, we plan to get started right away,” Iwasa said. “We have five MRJs; it just turned out No. 4 was ready first, which is why it is the second jet to arrive in Moses Lake.”

Mitsubishi Aircraft has five MRJs available for test flights. Two are already undergoing tests in Japan, with a third expected to begin flying shortly.

The original plan was to fly the first MRJ to Grant County International Airport at the end of August. But shortly after the plane took off from Nagoya, Japan on Aug. 27, an air conditioning malfunction forced it to return. The same problem occurred the following day. The third attempt, on Sept. 26, was successful.

“We brought the first jet in through Russia and Alaska,” Iwasa said with a smile. “But no one wanted to go that way again. So this time, No. 4 came here through Hawaii.”

The remaining two MRJ-90s are expected to be in Moses Lake by the first of the year.

Rodney Harwood can be reached at 509-765-4561 ext. 111 or businessag@columbiabasinherald.com.