Extended Twin-Engine Operations (ETOPS)

What is Extended Twin-Engine Operations (ETOPS)

ETOPS stand for Extended Twin-engine OPerationsS. It is a fancy initialism that is suppose to represent aircraft that have an extremely low probability of losing an engine on long flight that are great distances from a suitable airport.

In 1953, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a rule requiring twin-engine aircraft to fly no further than 60 minutes from any airport. This was known as the “60 Minute Rule.” Over time, the airlines attempted to convince the FAA to lengthen the time so that the airlines could fly more efficient routes. Eventually, the airlines convinced the FAA to double the time. This permitted flight to Europe with twin-engine aircraft. From this 120-minute rule evolved the 138-minute rule to adjust for certain flight patterns over the middle of the Atlantic. These timed evolved until the advent of the Boeing 777, which was ETOPS certifed for 180 minutes at first flight (known as ”ETOPS out of the box,” ). Currently there is a proposed rule that would permit some of the ETOPS aircraft to fly 207 minutes from the nearest suitable airport. (For a complete discussion on ETOPS, see ETOPS/LROPS.

It is interesting to note, as Karl L. Schwartz points out, “ETOPS does not require over-water equipment (e.g., life rafts) or additional fuel tanks, though these are usually required for the typical missions of ETOPS-rated aircraft.” Karl L. Schwartz, Great Circle Mapper FAQ.

Rule	Legal Routing
*The 60-Minute Rule* A flight from New York to Paris would violate this rule.
*The 120-Minute Rule* Airlines could fly twin-engine aircraft from New York to Paris with this rule.
*The 120-Minute Rule in the Pacific* Note the increasing legal area on a fight from Vancouver to Aukland in these next three maps.
*The 180-Minute Rule*
*The 207-Minute Rule*