Reply to post: Re: Interesting

Boeing just about gives up on the 747

Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward

Re: Interesting

"I am a pilot and I have no idea what you're talking about."

Go read about ETOPS and come back if you still have questions?

ETOPS certification is about certifying planes for use on routes where they might be a long way from the nearest diversion airport.

Here's a starter for readers who don't want the full thing:

"In 1988, the FAA amended the ETOPS regulation to allow the extension to a 180-minute diversion period subject to stringent technical and operational qualifications. This made 95% of the Earth's surface available to ETOPS flights[citation needed]. The first such flight was conducted in 1989. This set of regulations was subsequently adopted by the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA), ICAO and other regulatory bodies.

In this manner the Boeing 737, 757 and 767 series and the Airbus A300-600, A310, A320 and A330 series were approved for ETOPS operations. The success of ETOPS aircraft like 767 and 777 made the intercontinental trijets obsolete for passenger use, and ultimately the four-engined Airbus A340. This led Boeing to end the MD-11 program a few years after Boeing's merger with McDonnell Douglas, as well as to scale down the production of its own Boeing 747.

The cornerstone of the ETOPS approach is the statistics showing that the turbine assembly of a modern jet engine is an inherently reliable component. Engine ancillaries, by contrast, have a lower reliability rating. Therefore an ETOPS-certified engine may be built with duplicate sets of certain ancillaries in order to receive the required reliability rating.

The North Atlantic airways are the most heavily used oceanic routes in the world. Most North Atlantic airways are covered by ETOPS 120-minute rules, removing the necessity of using 180-minute rules. However, some of the North Atlantic diversion airports are subject to adverse weather conditions making them unavailable for use. As the 180-minute rule is the upper limit, the JAA and FAA have given 15% extension to the 120-minute rules to deal with such contingencies, giving the ETOPS-138 (i.e. 138 minutes), thereby allowing ETOPS flights with such airports closed."

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETOPS

Hth.

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