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Airbus A350-900 Gains Beyond 180 Minutes Diversion Time ETOPS From FAA
The Airbus A350-900 has gained extended-range twin-engine operations (ETOPS) approval from FAA for routes that require beyond 180 minutes diversion time, which will give US A350 operators more range and flexibility with the aircraft. (atwonline.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
It seems as if there might be a bit of politics creeping into ETOPS approval. In the US, the Boeing 787 is given 330 minutes ETOPS approval, and then Europe gives the Airbus A350-900, 370 minute approval. Standard ETOPs has been 120 minutes I believe. Now if my butt is aboard an aircraft and we lose one of our 2 engines, I want that same butt, back on the groung safely ASAP. It seems as if both Europe and The US, are trying to give an advantage to their own product over the competition, with passenger safety coming second. Think about it. 370 minutes is is 6 hours and 10 minutes of sweaty nail biting, praying the second engine is not a duplicate of the first. I hope that each aircraft comes equipped with a seviceable Angel, because they might need it. If only for good luck.
How can you say politics are involved? Everyone knows the top engineers work for these political bodies and always deliver correct opinions for the policy makers to guide their decisions. Why just look at the record of the current administration...uhoh...I think I just shot myself down.
I just want to know why they are going where there is no runway within 6 hours of fly time? Perhaps China is leading the way building runways in the South China Sea.
I just want to know why they are going where there is no runway within 6 hours of fly time? Perhaps China is leading the way building runways in the South China Sea.
passenger safety second? I fear it's slipping farther down than that.
Amen my friend. Recall Transat flight 236. Fuel leak to right engine and lack of situational awareness should have detected fuel leak yet pilots elected to share wing tanks rather than shut down right engine and fuel flow. Aircraft had loss of fuel emergency and glided without fuel to the Azores. Pilot was awarded for longest glide in an airliner. Congrats! Landed over-speed and blew all tires as APU did not supply hydraulics, including flaps! Glad my butt wasn't on this flight. - safe av8ting!
This is a totally random thought, but if an aircraft is going to wind up in the drink because both engines quit, regardless of the low probability of such an event occurring, what I would want would be the ability to safely set the aircraft down on water and break out the rafts. It would seem that the primary impediment to setting it down safely would be the engines. Once they start gulping water the nose of the aircraft will pitch straight down, or if they hit asymmetrically, then they'll rip the aircraft apart (see Ethiopian flight 961). True, Captain Sully pulled off a miracle on the Hudson, but the A320 engines do not have a nine foot fan, and the Hudson is not the open ocean. In such a dire circumstance it would be helpful if there was some way to drop the engines prior to impact so that the craft would have a better chance of landing intact on the water, and be able to float long enough for the rafts to be deployed and filled with passengers. Yes, I know that the cure might be worse than the disease as we might have engines being dropped all over the world, but it was just a thought.
If you had to put one in the North Atlantic in the winter, you might as well nose it over and go straight in, because nobody is going to survive very long, raft or not.