Boeing’s 777 jetliners are being modified to help them cope with the pressures of high winds and high temperatures, and to help reduce the number of collisions, the U.S. Air Force said Friday.
The modifications include adding more fuel tanks, increasing the number and depth of fuel tanks to increase the plane’s stability, and adding airbags, the Air Force says.
The modified aircraft will be used to test out the jetliners latest airworthiness standards, the air force said in a release.
Boeing’s plane crashed Thursday into the sea near Japan’s southernmost island of Hokkaido, killing all 298 people on board.
It’s the second time this year that the U,S.
military has had to scramble to test aircraft for a new airworthiness standard.
The first was in October 2016, when an A-10 Thunderbolt II crashed in Afghanistan, killing six soldiers and two civilians.