787 Watch – Extended Twin Engines Operations to be limited?

ETOP’s – Or Extended Operations is an important thing for twin-jet engined airliners, as it defines the ability of an aircraft of an aircraft to be in range of an airport if one of the two engines fail on a aircraft.

ETOP’s rating can be found for both narrow-body and wide-body operations… such as the Boeing 787.

According to Reuters(http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/27/us-boeing-787-range-idUSBRE92Q00920130327)

Alas for Boeing, which is trying to get the 787 airborne again for commercial services, there is talk that the FAA could apply a harsh ETOPs restriction initially on return to service. This would in turn limit it to shorter distances or distances closer to diversionary airports – cutting the 787’s operational advantage for some airlines and in some cases, cutting long trans-oceanic flights could really dent the 787 route map.

In theory, an airline could send a Boeing 777 to take the place of a a 787 (providing they have a 777 spare) – however by sending out a 777, there is a cost to doing in that which would be a lot more expensive to fly than a 787.

The current discussions include a reduction of range from ETOPS330 (5.5 hours – which is what the 787 is currently rated for) to ETOPS120 or lower (2 hours)

Currently, the FAA is not saying much other than:

“It’s really premature to talk about what ETOPS certification we would give them right now,”

“We’ll be in a better position to answer questions like that after we get through all this battery testing.”

Battery testing is still in progress at Boeing with another 787 flight this week to wrap up the re-certification plan for the 787 to prove its new systems work as intended in flight as part of the return to flight plan.

Whilst it is possible to fly some routes on a ETOPS240 routing, by the nature of ETOPS240 means the aircraft would have to take a different route so it is closer to a diversionary airport. This means loading more fuel on, and bumping up the costs. In the case of some routes, this may be possible just to get planes in the air – for other routes this is not going to happen..

The return of the 787 to flight is going to be watched with by a lot of people – probably more than Boeing would want.

However if this plane is going to get back in the air, it will be on the Aviation Watchdogs plate to dictate, and not the airline or the air-framers requests.

HT to Chris W who spotted this story breaking.