| In the aviation industry today, it has now become | | | | rating on its entry into service. ETOPS-180 is only |
| part of everyday normal operations for twin engine | | | | possible after 1 year of trouble-free 120-minute |
| aircraft to cross the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and | | | | ETOPS experience), however a lot of areas would |
| also deserts. In this article, I will guide you on how | | | | not be able to be crossed (if only ETOP-120 is used) |
| ETOPS works in my simple words. | | | | as they are outside the range of the airports/airfields. |
| Nowadays, most of twin engine airliners are already | | | | For any airline to be able to cross the Mighty Atlantic |
| certified so that they have to be able to fly normally | | | | ocean, it would require at least 138minute of ETOPS |
| within an hour of a landing strip/airfield/airport in the | | | | certification(ETOPS 120/138 was introduced to tackle |
| event of an emergency (any of the engines | | | | this issue) |
| failure).Normally in Europe this is not a problem, but | | | | One more example, we take a flight From USA to |
| over the Oceans and at night in Africa where airfields | | | | Hawaii. Any airline will require 3hours certification as |
| often close, this could risk a problem (deserts are | | | | Hawaii to west coast of USA is estimate around |
| also considered like oceans). To allow/enable long | | | | 6hours of flying. That's why ETOPS-180 was |
| distance flights with twin engine aircraft, a set of | | | | introduced. So if and airlines is not ETOPS-180 |
| rules were developed by the Civil Aviation Authorities | | | | certified, it will have to use a long route via north |
| of the world. At first, aircraft have to be built and | | | | neared to Greenland and Iceland. |
| designed with proven engines. Hours are fed back | | | | Examples of ETOPS rating are as below:- |
| and monitored by manufacturers and authorities. | | | | - ETOPS-75 |
| Before these operations commence the airline has to | | | | - ETOPS-90 |
| be certified and assessed as well. | | | | - ETOPS-120/138 |
| I give one example, the Atlantic Ocean. It would be | | | | - ETOPS-180/207 (which covers 95% of the earth's |
| impossible to fly over this huge ocean using the | | | | surface)p/s did you know ETOPS famous acronym |
| normal hour restriction. It could be crossed with | | | | ="Engines Turn Off, Passengers Swim" and "Engines |
| implementing a two hour restriction (ETOPS-120 | | | | Turn or Passengers Swim. |