EVERETT, Wash. -- Boeing's CEO told investors Thursday that the 787 Dreamliner is on its revised schedule for the first flight before the end of June.

The announcement came after a respected industry blog reported that the 787 spun up an engine for the first time with fuel flowing to it late Wednesday night and then started its Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines for the first time Thursday morning.

"White smoke was seen coming from the engine as storage oil was burnt off as the engines were spooled up," Flightblogger reported in a posting at about 9 a.m. Pacific time.

The full start on the engines is a key milestone on the road to the first flight.

KIRO 7 Eyewitness News crews shot video at about 1 a.m. when someone on a cherry-picker inspected the first 787's left engine.

A Boeing spokesman told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News aviation reporter Rick Price early Thursday morning that pre-start tests had begun, but workers had at that time not yet run the engines.