Entirely agree about the 747. Sorry about he robust post, but the press irritate me about this sort of thing.
Surges are not common, perhaps someone more knowledgeable could say how rare, but they are expected to happen occasionally. The twin crossing the Atlantic would be ETOPS cleared, so the engines have to be proven in service to be very reliable - the distance it is allowed from an alternate (in terms of time at one-engine-inoperative speed) is determined by exactly how reliable (so can change - this is why twin jets will rarely actually shut down an engine, if possible just power back a problem powerplant, to keep the engine type's ETOPS statistics. Remember a surged engine could be used again, if really required).