English press release:
http://cms.lufthansa.com/de/dlh/de/p...561874,00.html

excerpt:
05.11.2002 Lufthansa's Internet World Premier in the Sky

First e-mail Sent Directly from a Commercial Airliner via a High-speed Internet Connection The historic expression "air mail" has just transformed into a true high-tech label. Project team members of Lufthansa and Connexion by Boeing have transmitted the world's first e-mail via broadband internet connection from a scheduled airliner. The Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 christened "Sachsen-Anhalt" and registered as D-ABTE was on a flight from Frankfurt to Washington. A standard laptop was connected with the Lufthansa intranet via a secure internet connection (Virtual Private Network). Thus, the flying online-office by Lufthansa and Connexion by Boeing has made a large step closer to reality.

Several further, more sophisticated test runs are planned for the coming weeks in order to ensure a dependable operation. The public test for all passengers of the "Sachsen-Anhalt" starts January 15. For three months all passengers will be able to use Lufthansa FlyNet (working title of the new service) for free with their own laptop or loan equipment available on board. For this purpose the Boeing 747-400 shuttles back and forth between Frankfurt and Washington with flight numbers LH 418 and LH 419.........