(thing) by sekicho Sun Mar 23 2003 at 17:20:16
The 757 was designed by Boeing after Eastern Airlines and British Airways requested a replacement for the older Boeing 727. Development began in 1978, and the 757 first flew for Eastern on New Year's Day, 1983.

It was designed in parallel with the Boeing 767, and the two aircraft share many features and interchangable components. The main difference between the two is that the 757 has a six-abreast cabin similar to the Boeing 737's, in contrast to the 767's widebody layout. This makes the 757 look somewhat anorexic: its fuselage is abnormally long for its narrow width.

While the 767 is designed for high-capacity transoceanic routes, the 757 is more versatile, and is found on short-range flights as well as transatlantic service. It is ETOPS certified for 120 minutes, and can fly routes such as New York-London, Miami-Rio, and Tokyo-Singapore.

In 1996, the German airline Condor Flugdienst ordered a stretched version of the 757 called the 757-300. It shares a common type rating with the 767, so that pilots trained to fly one aircraft can fly the other with only minimal instruction.

Today, there are over 1,000 757's in service around the world. The largest operators are American Airlines with 126, Delta Air Lines with 116, United Airlines with 98, and UPS with 75. Paul Allen owns a personal 757, which he keeps in a hangar at Boeing Field along with his helicopter.

The 757 has an impeccable safety record. There have been seven fatal crashes to date, all due to extenuating circumstances:

  1. China Southwest Airlines, 1990 (collision)
  2. American Airlines flight 965, 1995 (pilot error)
  3. Birgenair flight 301, 1996 (pilot/maintenance error)
  4. Aeroperu flight 603, 1996 (maintenance error)
  5. American Airlines flight 77, September 11, 2001
  6. United Airlines flight 93, September 11, 2001
  7. DHL flight 611, July 1, 2002 (midair collision)
Specifications

            757-200       757-300
Seating:
 2-class      200           243
 1-class      228           280

Takeoff wt: 255,000 lb    272,500 lb
            123,600 kg    115,680 kg

Range:       3,900 nm      3,395 nm
             7,222 km      6,287 km

Length:       155'3"        178'7"
              47.3 m        54.5 m
Both models have a wingspan of 125 feet (38 m) and cruise at Mach 0.8.

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/757family

I like it!