Boeing will resume flight-testing of its Model 777F cargo aircraft “as soon as possible,” the manufacturer said after the freighter’s first flight on Monday was curtailed by problems unrelated to aircraft performance.

Because flight-test data could not be received in the telemetry room at its planned destination at Seattle’s Boeing Field flight-test centre, the 777-200LR-based aircraft returned to the company’s Paine Field at Everett following the more than 3.5-hour maiden flight. The event missed by just two weeks the June target date set at the beginning of the development program. Airworthiness approval is scheduled to be received before the end of the year, followed by delivery to launch customer Air France Cargo. Boeing has taken orders for 78 aircraft from 11 customers.