Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp.'s first regional passenger jet started test flights in the U.S. on the afternoon of October 17, local time, the Japanese manufacturer said.

The first test flight lasted around three hours. The MRJ90 prototype, Registration JA21MJ, took off from Grant County International Airport, Washington at 1:20 p.m. local time on October 17 and landed at 4:38 p.m. at the same airport.

Mitsubishi Aircraft plans to carry out 2,500 hours of flight testing to gain the certification needed to fly commercially.

Mitsubishi Aircraft has five MRJs available for test flights. Two are already undergoing tests in Japan, with a third expected to begin flying shortly. It is scheduled for delivery in mid-2018.