Eastern Airlines LLC 777-200ER at Peoria!

Peoria International Airport can not only handle the world's biggest planes, but has handled them. All of them. But they are not regular visitors. If fact, their local appearance is rare. 

United States Air Force Boeing E-4A "Nightwing," a military version of the 747, serves as an airborn command post, and are based at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska. These big jets first visited Peoria for practice flying ("touch-n-goes") in 1980, on January 15 when it blew out some of the runway landing lights, and again on August 12. I saw them in September 1989 and November 1990. I've heard reports that they've visited Peoria at least several times since. 

The first appearance by a United States Air Force C-5A Galaxy probably occured in 1983. It happened twice. The first on April 8 to reportedly ship military hardware to Thailand. On October 9, one of the big jets loaded personnel and equipment from the 182nd ANG unit for exercises at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The C-5 (A and B models) have visited Peoria a number of times since then, the most recent (that I'm aware) in 2023. 

Peoria has been visited by the world's largest plane, the Antonov 225, a Soviet era Ukrainian-built transport intended for the Buran space shuttle.  It was adopted for charter cargo use, and served in that role quite well until destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late-February 2022. The big, six-engine behemoth stopped here on October 10-11, 2009 to load some power equipment for Pago Pago, American Samoa.

Civil versions of Antonov 124s, slightly bigger than the C-5, have also visited Peoria, flying Caterpillar equipment to Russia in the 1990s. 

Both presidents Bush and Obama have visited Peoria in a 747 designated as "Air Force One." An Atlas Air passenger 747-400 stopped here on August 27, 2019. Itinerary on this likely military charter was Houston-Peoria-Anchorage-Fukuoka (Japan). 

Peoria has seen Boeing 777s before as well. I can recall an Omni Air International example coming here from Minneapolis/St. Paul on August 19, 2012. I shot video from the Shoppes at Grand Prairie area but missed its departure to Nuremburg, Germany. 

So it was exciting to be able to capture the departure of today's 777 visit. It should be noted that Eastern Airlines LLC is a charter carrier that has no relationship to the major airline that went defunct in 1991. 

CAPTION: An Eastern Airlines LLC Boeing 777-200ER (N825KW) departs Runway 13 at the Gen. Wayne A. Downing Peoria Int'l Airport late-afternoon Saturday, April 12, 2025. The aircraft was used for a military charter. It arrived from El Paso (Int'l Airport), Texas and departed for Victorville, California.

- David P. Jordan