Giant freighter takes off from an airfield in Kansas that is 3,000 feet shorter than the length recommended by Boeing, the maker. But engineers with the plane’s operator, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, a New York-based cargo-hauler, said the jet with a wingspan of 211 feet was “safe for a normal departure at its current weight and conditions here,” according to Brad Christopher of the Wichita Airport Authority. Meaning: they took a lot of stuff out of it before takeoff.
