What exactly is ETOPS??

[angels]

I feel a bit of a twit asking this, so apologies in advance to you pilots, but what exactly is ETOPS?
I reckon its something to do with twin engined aircraft (crossing the Atlantic?) and how long they would have to fly to get to an alternate airport if they had an engine failure.
Is ETOPS an acronym?
Any explanations to assuage my curiousity gratefully received.
Thanks.

[CargoRat2]

Engines Turning Or Passengers Swimming :)

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rgds Rat

[x/wind]

'Back office at airline', eh? :)

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Always look on the bright side of life...

[vipero]

A pain in the neck when:
Canadians and Bermuda airports are below minima, APU shows a nice "inop" sticker and the pic is not too smart...
Oh! And do not forget that in this case QNH is always around 998mb, the most performing runway closed for WIP and your payload is exceeding MTOW by 4tons...

I love this job!
Ciao
Paolo

[Biggles Flies Undone]

Bearing in mind that this is the place for us non-pro’s to ask questions, I think you lot have been a tad hard. If angels is for real, a sensible response might have been more friendly.

It stands for extended-range twin-engine operations. You can get more details if you type the acronym into a search engine.

[angels]

BFU - Many thanks for your moral support! I note that you and I have e-mail addresses on our profile and yet Vipero, a dispatcher (ie not a pilot) and x/wind (occupation unknown) don't. Funny that.

X-wind. I'm in forex. Airlines get revenue from many different countries and in many different currencies. Some people jiggle the dosh about and change it into the currency of the home operation. Not flying -- but then dispatching ain't either.

Check my previous posts. I've never pretended I was a pilot or remotely connected with planes per se.

Cargorat2 -- your post confirms I was along the right lines, but despite the goings-on above, I'm still interested in a little further explanation!
Cheers,
Chris.

[SFly]

Extended Twin Ops it is . . .

Basically, governmental aviation agencies, (old fashioned as they are!) don't trust twinjets to go a long way. So they came up with ETOPS.

Before, a twin had to be 60 minutes away from a suitable airfield, which was bad news crossing the Atlantic (one had to go the long way, over Greenland!). The FAA, CAA etc, did extensive engine research (and allegedly still do) with each aircraft and certified them for ETOPS, which meant that the aircraft could be trusted to be outside the 60 minute ring, inside the 90 minute one.

Gradually, as the track records were proven, it was extended to 138 minutes and then to 180 minutes, which means a twin can go just about anywhere. Mind you, some aircraft haven't gotten full certification and so are limited, but others do.

Because of this, ETOPS is a very good thing for operators of twin jets on long-haul routes. Losing ETOPS capability is bad news when it happens.

Pilots check with great care before each flight and before any course deviation that they are certified for ETOPS, and their charts and maps etc clearly show the "no-fly" zones.

Hope this answers your question a little bit.

SFly

[This message has been edited by SFly (edited 05 April 2001).]