Port of Moses Lake Commission Darrin Jackson, left, and former Port Executive Director David Bailey, standing out on the airfield at the Grant County International Airport on Tuesday as they wait for the last 747 built by Boeing to briefly touch down before being delivered to Atlas Air. Before coming to work for the port in 1972, Bailey worked as an engineer with Boeing on the 747, and saw the first plane touch down in Moses Lake as part of the company’s testing program.
January 26, 2023
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Final flight: Last ‘Queen of the skies’ touches down in Moses Lake
MOSES LAKE — The last 747 touched down briefly at the Grant County International Airport Jan. 10 as part of its final check before being delivered to its new owner, New York-based cargo airline Atlas Air. David Bailey, a retired former executive director of the Port of Moses Lake who began his career in aviation as a flight engineer for Boeing in the late 1960s helping to design and test the 747, was on hand to watch the last one touch down as well. “I went to work for Boeing in 1968,” said Bailey as he stood on a GCIA taxiway waiting for the plane to land. “In 1969, I was transferred over to flight test engineering, to work specifically on … the first 747.”