PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - ETOPS question: must ETP be necessarily between EEP and EXP?
Old 8th Aug 2014, 15:29
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SR-22
 
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Normally it shouldn't be that way no, but it is possible yes, especially where the etops segment is rather short but with strong winds aloft. If you think about it, ETP has really nothing to do with EEP/EXP as such. As already pointed out, EEP/EXP are where your flightpath cross the still air 60 min distance from a adequate airport. But ETP is what is says, a equal TIME point. Same flying time to each alternate airport based on the forecasted winds with the worst case calculated failure scenario.


Someone mentioned Etops rules, well etops is mainly just a planning regulation. You have to have a contingency plan for those failures should they happen outside the 60 minutes. Now in-flight, let's say inside the etops segment the crew is not in any way obligated to divert to those planned etops alternates as that would be a emergency situation and it would be totally up to the commander what to do and where to go. So then the ETP is just a "nice to know info"
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