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It’s NOT A Tarmac! Airline Terminology

ETOPS: Acronym for Extended Operations. ETOPS is a set of rules that enhance safety when
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#ying over areas of the world that have few airports that can be used in an emergency.
Stu# Pilots Say!
Suitable Diversion Airport (sometimes call an alternate
alternate): A preselected place to land in the " January 15, 2014 $ 50
event an airliner has a problem during a #ight. A diversion airport must have appropriate
Flying the North Atlantic Tracks
facilities to handle the aircraft and meet minimum weather criteria.
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Air Navigation Name Nonsense

The 60 Minute Rule " May 2, 2016 $ 41

Airliners with two engines can #y any route that remains within 60 minutes #ying time of an airport Your Oxygen Mask vs. My Oxygen Mask
that is adequate for landing in the event of an emergency. The 60 minute distance is calculated using " February 17, 2014 $ 35

the aircraft’s speed with one engine inoperative in still air (no wind). As an example, the 60 minute
distance for the 767 I #y is about 430 miles. AEROSAVVY TWEETS

North America and Europe have numerous airports that can handle airliners. When #ying over these
continents, it’s unusual to be farther than 60 minutes from a place to land in an emergency. Tweets by @AeroSavvy
Ken Hoke
@AeroSavvy
Replying to @AeroSavvy
Sure glad the simulated weather was better
than the real thing.

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STICKERS!

The 60-minute rule requires two-engine airliners to stay within 60 minutes of an airport. This !ight is not
allowed to !y a direct route between Gotham and Metropolis.

Extra minutes for extra engines: The same regulation that limits two-engine airplanes to the 60-
minute rule allows passenger jets with more than two engines (like a 747 or A340) to venture as far
as 180 minutes from an airport. 180 minutes gives these aircraft access to 95% of the earth’s surface.
Aircraft with more than two engines are rewarded with a longer leash due to increased engine and
systems redundancy.

More Than 60 Minutes in a Twin = ETOPS

What happens if we want to #y a two-engine aircraft, like a
Boeing 777, out over the ocean? The 5 1/2 hour #ight from Los
Angeles to Hawaii takes us way beyond 60 minutes from an
airport. For a two-engine aircraft to exceed the 60 minute rule,
we need… more rules!

ETOPS to the rescue!

Over the past few decades, aircraft systems and engines have
become amazingly reliable. Because of this reliability, ETOPS
rules were created to allow two-engine airliners to #y beyond 60 minutes from an airport. The same
regulations allow passenger aircraft with more than two engines (like the 747 and A380) to #y beyond
180 minutes from an airport.

There are di"erent ETOPS ratings available. Typical two-engine ratings are ETOPS-120 (minutes) and
ETOPS-180. The higher the rating, the more di$cult and costly it is to receive and maintain approval.

Using ETOPS-120 authorization, this !ight can use Riverdale and Metropolis as ETOPS emergency diversion
airports to !y the direct route between Gotham and Metropolis.

120 minute ETOPS works well for many long #ights, including most routes over the North Atlantic. If
an airline wants to #y more remote routes, like the Paci!c ocean, it needs approval for 180 minute
ETOPS. Hawaii and Asia are just too far from the U.S. mainland for an ETOPS-120 rating.

Two-engine airliners need at least ETOPS-180 approval to !y from the U.S. to Hawaii or Asia.

Part 1. Aircraft Type Approval

Aircraft Type Approval is the !rst step of the two part ETOPS
approval process. The aircraft model type must be approved for
extended operations. To gain approval, manufacturers must
include extra redundancy for key systems like electrical,
hydraulics, !re suppression, and communications.

Based on the design of the plane and engines used, federal

agencies (like the FAA or EASA) will grant the aircraft model
an ETOPS “type approval” that designates how many minutes it
can safely operate with one engine inoperative. The Boeing 777
ETOPS models have a type approval of ETOPS-330. The Airbus
A350XWB was granted ETOPS-370. These two aircraft are
certi!ed to #y over 5 hours from an emergency diversion
airport – on one engine. Thousands of hours of engine
performance and maintenance data are required before and Transaero ETOPS 737 Credit: Scott C.
airplane can acquire these impressive ratings.

Part 2. Operational Certi"cation

Once the aircraft has ETOPS type approval, airlines must receive their own approval based on the
routes they plan to #y. Aircraft certi!ed for ETOPS have demanding maintenance requirements.
Airlines must develop a special maintenance program for the aircraft they want certi!ed. The higher
the ETOPS rating, the more stringent the maintenance requirements. Frequent inspections for key
aircraft systems with special attention to the engines are necessary. Airlines must also #y
validation (test) #ights on proposed ETOPS routes to demonstrate procedures to federal regulators.

Airlines sometimes apply an ETOPS decal to certi"ed aircraft as a reminder that the aircraft requires special
attention.

ETOPS also requires special #ight crew and dispatcher training, additional weather planning, special
fuel quantity considerations, and enhanced communication capabilities (satellite communication is
often used). A very important requirement for each ETOPS route #own is a passenger recovery plan.

Passenger recovery plan?

That sounds pretty ominous. No worries! The passenger recovery plan details how the airline will
manage its passengers in the unlikely event of an emergency landing at an ETOPS diversion airport.

When an airline plans an ETOPS #ight, they have to select suitable diversion airports to use in an
emergency. Diversion airports must have the infrastructure necessary to handle passengers, often in
remote areas of the planet. A little airstrip with one outhouse won’t work when #ying over the North
Atlantic in January. That’s why Halifax, Nova Scotia and Ke#avik, Iceland are popular diversion choice
for Atlantic routes. They can handle an extra 300 passengers in the event an A330 drops in with a
problem. A recovery plan doesn’t have to promise everyone a room at the Ritz-Carlton, only that
passengers will be reasonably comfortable and that basic physiological needs are met (safety, shelter,
food, and bathroom facilities). The passenger recovery plan assures that passengers arrive at their
!nal destination within 48 hours of the diversion.

ETOPS Trivia:

The very !rst FAA approved ETOPS #ight was operated

by a TWA Boeing 767-200 on February 1st, 1985 from
Boston to Paris. TWA was !rst granted an ETOPS-90
rating. After an evaluation period, TWA’s rating was
extended to ETOPS-120.

TWA B-767 by Aero Icarus – CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

ETOPS Navigation Charts

Airlines are quickly moving to paperless cockpits. Thanks to advanced systems in newer jets and
tablet computers (like the iPad), we pilots do a lot less navigation work than we used to. One task
many airlines still require is plotting ETOPS data on a paper chart. The nice thing about paper is that it
doesn’t need batteries and still works after I spill co"ee on it!

Below is an example of a plotting chart for a Los Angeles to Honolulu #ight. We use a fresh chart for
each #ight. Using di"erent colored highlighters is not only fun, but makes the chart easy to read. In
the example, our planned route is highlighted in yellow and the 180 minute circles around our ETOPS
diversion alternates are in green. This chart is custom printed for my airline; the ETOPS circles are the
correct 180 minute no-wind distance for our Boeing 767 aircraft. There is a circle for each diversion
airport we are approved to use. We simply highlight the circle (or arc) for the diversion airports our
dispatcher selects for each #ight.

Get out the highlighters, it’s time to color! Click chart for full-size image.

After we highlight the route and diversion arcs, we plot our ETOPS Entry Point where we #y outside of
the 60 minute rule, and the Equal Time Point where the #ight time to either diversion airport is the
same. These points are provided to us on our computer generated #ight plan. Knowing the ETP helps
our decision-making in the event of an in-#ight emergency. During the journey, we check our position
about 10 minutes after passing each named intersection on the route. We take the present latitude
and longitude from our navigation computer and plot that point on the chart. If the point is exactly on
our yellow highlighted route, we know we are on course!

At the end of a #ight, the ETOPS plotting chart makes a wonderful memento of the journey; suitable
for framing. Usually, we throw it in the trash.

ETOPS: Engines Turn Or Passengers Swim?

An old airline joke is that ETOPS stands for “Engines Turn Or Passengers Swim.” It’s sort of funny (until
you’ve heard it a few dozen times), but also misleading. ETOPS rules have nothing to do with !ying
over water! Di"erent regulations govern over-water #ights. There are several overland routes
across Antarctica, Australia, Asia and Africa that require ETOPS rules due to the lack of adequate
diversion airports.

ETOPS for airplanes with more than two engines?

Why mention airplanes with more than two engines (like the 747 and A380) in an article about
ETOPS? Doesn’t the T in ETOPS stand for Twin Engine?

The old acronym was:

Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards.

A few years ago, ETOPS rules were updated to include passenger airplanes with more than two
engines. These long range jets routinely #y super-long routes over the Arctic, Antarctica and
across the southern Paci!c ocean. Government regulators felt that expanding ETOPS rules to
include these aircraft would bene!t safety. Thus, ETOPS now means: Extended Operations.

American Airlines Flies the Wrong Jet to Hawaii

Note: This ABC story incorrectly uses the obsolete acronym for ETOPS.

In late August of 2015, American Airlines mistakenly #ew a non-ETOPS certi!ed aircraft from Los
Angeles to Honolulu. Was this a big deal? Yes, it was. Was passenger safety compromised?
Statistically, there may have been a slight increase in risk to the passengers. Would I have been
worried if I were on board? Probably not. The #ight crew was ETOPS quali!ed. ETOPS dispatch,
fueling, and navigation procedures were used, and the airplane likely had an ETOPS pre-departure
maintenance check. The airplane in question was, no doubt, in tip-top shape. The problem was
that the aircraft wasn’t listed on American’s ETOPS operating certi!cate so it wasn’t required to be in
the airline’s ETOPS Maintenance Program.

American Airlines noti!ed the FAA of the error while the aircraft was en route and immediately took
steps to ensure a similar mistake would not happen again. After arriving safely in Honolulu, the
aircraft was ferried empty back to LAX.

ETOPS is a game of risk analysis and statistics. The rules are designed to eliminate as much risk as
reasonably possible to assure a successful #ight. The farther an airline wants to #y from a diversion
alternate, the more strict the maintenance requirements are to minimize risk. An aircraft in an ETOPS
maintenance program should have a statistically higher probability of a problem-free #ight than one
that is not.

[Update: There has been some confusion about how the aircraft that !ew to Hawaii was equipped.
According to the LA Times, the aircraft did have life rafts but did not have the correct quantity of
emergency oxygen and "re suppression canisters onboard. This is a serious breach of safety that further
highlights the importance of ETOPS rules.]

ETOPS Rules: Making extended operations safe!

ETOPS was !rst introduced in 1985. For over 30 years, the rules have succeeded in making long-range
air travel for two-engine (and now four-engine) aircraft reliable and safe. Bravo, ETOPS!

Further Reading About ETOPS:

Great Circle Mapper: Interactive tool for displaying great circle routes and ETOPS circles.
Wikipedia ETOPS Entry: Lots of historical information on ETOPS.

PDF Files (useful for insomnia):

FAA InFO – New ETOPS Regulations: 2007 FAA publication outlining new ETOPS rules.
FAA Advisory – ETOPS and Polar Ops: Guidance for airlines requesting ETOPS approval.
Boeing AERO – The New FAA ETOPS Rule: In-depth article about the 2007 ETOPS rules.

More About Navigation:

Straight Talk on Great Circle Routes: Why airplane routes look funny on maps.
How do pilots !nd their way? Airliner navigation.

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32 COMMENTS

Gemma says:
OCTOBER 7, 2015 AT 5:17 PM

Well that was super interesting. And I feel even safer now….but…..I have a question. You talk about
no wind. So, here’s my stupid question but I need to ask because I’m not sure what it means. And
what happens if it turns out you have wind pushing you back in the direction you need to go? Then
you won’t have enough?. Or will you? What? I’m confused.

% REPLY

Ken H. & says:

OCTOBER 7, 2015 AT 7:15 PM

Gemma,

The “no wind” stu" just means we can use perfect circles around the diversion airports. The
idea is to have airports always within a reasonable distance and time, the numbers don’t
have to be exact. The FAA decided not to complicate this rule by taking into account wind. If
we have a head wind, it will take a little longer get to an alternate. A tail wind will reduce our
time to an alternate.

Fuel won’t be a problem. We are required to carry fuel reserves for several di"erent
scenarios. All fuel calculations are based on forecast winds so there will never be a problem
getting to a diversion alternate if we need to.

Thanks for reading!

% REPLY

Jim Holtsclaw says:

OCTOBER 7, 2015 AT 9:14 PM

You don’t mention the fact that the AAL #ight that was non-ETOPs did not have life rafts for the
passengers in the event the aircraft had to ditch in the ocean……That is one of the ETOPS
requirments.

% REPLY

Ken H. & says:

OCTOBER 7, 2015 AT 9:34 PM

Hi Jim,

According to the LA Times and a couple other sources I checked, the aircraft did have rafts.
This aircraft was used for over-water routes. Rafts are an over-water requirement, not an
ETOPS requirement. Remember, there are ETOPS #ights that don’t go over water and over-
water #ights that don’t require ETOPS .

The LA Times also stated that the aircraft did not have the extra passenger oxygen capacity and
extra cargo "re suppression required by ETOPS. If true, that’s a pretty serious breach in safety.

% REPLY

Brad says:
OCTOBER 8, 2015 AT 9:07 AM

At my airline we have to put the plotting chart in our paperwork folder that gets “maintained by the
company” for 30 days after the #ight. Also (I #y for a foreign carrier) we’ve switched to the new
ICAO term EDTO.

% REPLY

Ken H. & says:

OCTOBER 8, 2015 AT 9:11 AM

Hi Brad,

Great comment! My airline used to require that all paperwork be turned in as well. We
changed procedures a few years ago. Now, we only need to turn in the paperwork if a
navigation problem was encountered during the #ight.

Aviation folks love coming up with new acronyms! For those not familiar, “EDTO” stands for
Extended Diversion Time Operation.

Airbus proposed the acronym: LROPS (Long Range Operational Performance Standards).
Another acronym (used until the 1980’s) was EROPS (Extended Range Operations).

All these acronyms mean essentially the same thing.

Thanks for reading!

Ken

% REPLY

Ken says:
OCTOBER 10, 2015 AT 10:40 PM

This was a great read and very informative. Keep up the greast articles, they’re good for us novice
type to learn from.

% REPLY

Ken H. & says:

OCTOBER 10, 2015 AT 11:01 PM

Hi Ken,

Glad you enjoyed it!

Happy #ying,
Ken

% REPLY

Mussavir ahmed says:

OCTOBER 13, 2015 AT 4:18 AM

Hi! Captain, Its a nice article on ETOPS it gives a clear understanding how it works…..

% REPLY

Ken H. & says:

OCTOBER 13, 2015 AT 5:46 PM

Thank you, Mussavir!

I appreciate the nice feedback.

Ken

% REPLY

John says:
OCTOBER 15, 2015 AT 10:44 PM

Another informative lesson! As a novice aviation geek, am I correct in assuming that when an
airline places a new order with say Boeing for x amount of 737s, that airline has to specify how
many need to be con!gured for ETOPS? Or can the planes be recon!gured by maintenace crews
for ETOPS at a later date?

% REPLY

Ken H. & says:

OCTOBER 16, 2015 AT 3:18 PM

Hi John,

This is outside of my expertise, but I believe most of the 2nd generation ETOPS aircraft, like
the 777 and A330 come standard from the factory ready for ETOPS without modi!cation.
Early models, like the 767 and A310 needed some modi!cations to be certi!ed.

Thanks for reading!

% REPLY

Jessica says:
JULY 13, 2016 AT 3:09 PM

Great article. Thanks for making this so easy to understand. I knew ETOPS had to do with long
distance #ights, but that’s it.

% REPLY

Ken H. & says:

JULY 14, 2016 AT 5:02 PM

Hi Jessica,

Glad you liked the article. Thanks for reading!

-Ken

% REPLY

Vivek says:
AUGUST 29, 2016 AT 1:47 PM

Great article and easy to understand. As a Avionics engineer, I have one question, do we have any
display in cockpit to show ETOPS circle? Any device that can show or draw ETOPS circle around
aircraft in realtime?

% REPLY

Ken H. & says:

AUGUST 29, 2016 AT 4:48 PM

On the older 767-300 that I #y, there isn’t anything that automatically draws ETOPS Circles.
Some crews will use the FMC Fix page to draw a 180 minute (1312 mile) circle around the
ETOPS alternates for situational awareness. This is probably close to what you have in mind.
We also have the alternate circles printed on our ETOPS plotting charts.

I can’t speak about other, newer generation airplanes; there might be something fancy
available on those.

Thanks for reading!

Ken

% REPLY

Vivek & says:

AUGUST 31, 2016 AT 4:06 AM

Thank you Ken!

% REPLY

Ken H. & says:

AUGUST 31, 2016 AT 2:51 PM

Thanks for reading!

-Ken

Elwyn says:
DECEMBER 5, 2016 AT 12:11 AM

Hi Captain Hoke,

I truly enjoyed reading your articles. I’ve been an AvGeek since I was a young boy and I am lucky to
have taken well over 100 “pleasure #ights” and 0 “business-related #ight.” Every single one of them
was as exciting as my very !rst #ight in 1978.

In early 2000’s I #ew long-haul from Shanghai to San Francisco on a B747-400. About 5 hours into
our 12-hour plus #ight across the vast Paci!c Ocean when most of my fellow passengers were
already asleep (that US-based B747-400 plane was not equipped with PTVs!) this ETOP #ight had an
interesting event that happened. I was awakened from my light sleep when I heard all of the 4
engines’ sound turned to higher pitch. Soon afterward I felt the G-force forcing me to the side of
my seat as our B747-400 turned to the right, then again, and again. I estimated we made a full 360
degree turn to go back to our original heading. I’ve never experienced a G-force quite that high on
a plane before nor after that particular #ight.

If you were going to make an educated guess, what do you think happened captain? Was that event
triggered by a TCAS alert, in the middle of the Paci!c Ocean? Or did our plane entered the “Co$n
Corner”?

Thank you again captain,

Elwyn

% REPLY

Ken H. & says:

DECEMBER 7, 2016 AT 10:12 PM

Hi Elwyn,

I can’t say for sure what the reason was. It de!nitely wasn’t a TCAS maneuver. This article
explains how TCAS works: https://aerosavvy.com/tcas/

It also had nothing to do with co$n corner. (