ETOPS is an acronym that stands for Extended Twin-engine Range Operations. The term and the concept indicate the recommended practices that are issued by the International Civil Aviation (ICAO), which provides the guidelines for flying long-distance routes that were previously prohibited to two-engine airliners (Lee, 2006). ETOPS has evolved over the years. This paper provides an evaluation and in-depth analysis of the key elements of the Extended Range Operations.
To understand the applications of the ETOPS rule, it is important to have a review of its evolution over the years. As such, it is worth noting that the use of aircrafts as a means of transportation is a recent technology, yet it has evolved drastically in the last 100 years (Stolzer, Halford, & Goglia, 2008). In the early 20th century, the first transatlantic flight was made from Canada to Ireland. It took more than sixteen hours. However, the reason for such a long stay was because flights far from the land were deemed very risky. As such, two engines were necessary for such flights over ocean or long distances (Liou, Yen, & Tzeng, 2008). The US Civil Aeronautics Authority introduced the 60-minute rule, often referred to as the Section 121.161, for twin-engine and three engine aircraft whereby the aircraft’s flight path of the twin-engine would not be permitted to extend further than 60 minutes of flying time from any airport. To meet the regulations, the aircrafts affected by the rule had to fly in long dogleg path to remain within the 60-minute extended range rule (Valenti, Bethke, Fiore, How, & Feron, 2006). In 1964, the three engine planes were exempted from the rule. Only two-engine aircrafts were affected. However, over the years, engine design, reliability, and technology have evolved and improved drastically. Airplanes are not allowed more than the initial 60-minute restriction (Kinnison & Siddiqui, 2012). Further, the safety of operations of aircrafts has increased due to better engine reliability. Currently, other factors apart from the engine are majorly to blame for safety issues, regardless of the number of engines in an aircraft.
In 1985, the FAA introduced the AC 120-42, which would provide two-engine airplanes with the means of obtaining up to 120 minutes of extended operations from an adequate 120 minutes. The rule was further revised in 1988 with the issuance of AC 120-42A, which extended the operations range to 180 minutes (Moir & Seabridge, 2011). The AC120-42B was introduced in 2008 to provide improved safety regulations and requirements for twin-engine and commercial airlines. Since 1988, the ETOPS limit for twin-engine aircrafts has remained 180 minutes from an adequate airport and is applicable in the majority of the world’s current aviation routes. However, some of the areas that are excluded from the rule are majorly very remote and are challenging to the operations (Lee, 2006). For instance, some of the areas include South Pacific and the Southern Indian Ocean, between South America and Africa among other areas. The application of the rule further is challenging in areas with difficult terrain and meteorology. In such cases, extended training, experience, and dedication of certificate holders are required to ensure safety of the aircrafts. In the recent past, the use of ETOPS has been used to indicate Extended Range Operations, which addresses the inclusion of passenger planes into the rule (Valenti et al., 2006). In this case, any passenger plane whose planned flight path deviates by more than 180 minutes of an adequate airport is automatically covered by the requirements of the ETOPS.
The ETOPS provides compliance maintenance requirements that must be adhered by all two-engine and passenger planes. Firstly, for the two-engine plane, it is important to ensure an elaborate Continuous Airworthiness Maintenance Program (CAMP) (Kinnison & Siddiqui, 2012). The CAMP indicates the currently approved maintenance requirements as indicated by the manufacturer of the aircraft. The ETOPS CAMP involves the development of a maintenance approaches that incorporate the specifications of the ETOPS rule. The second maintenance requirement is the development of an ETOPS document, which will be used by personnel engaged in ensuring the adherence to the ETOPS requirements (Lee, 2006). The ETOPS document may be a separate or part of other maintenance documents. However, it is important to ensure a reference for maintenance requirements that refer to the adherence to all ETOPS guidelines. All the documents must be submitted to the Certificate District Holding Office (CHDO) for approval (Moir & Seabridge, 2011). The third maintenance requirement relates to the ETOPS Pre-departure Service Check (PDSC). In this case, the certificate holder must have an ETOPS PDSC, which verifies items of airworthiness and ETOPS capability. Some of the key ingredients of airworthiness include proper serving of fluids, auxiliary power unit (APU) oil quantities, and fuel consumption of the airplane among others (Moir & Seabridge, 2011). It is also important for the maintenance workers to have the prerequisite training and experience to ensure compliance to ETOPS.
The maintenance program further provides the specification for dual maintenance. In this case, ETOPs must be reviewed in the case of double or multiple verifications for vital instruments and operations in the aircraft (Kinnison & Siddiqui, 2012). In this case, any ETOPS significant systems that have been passed through the double maintenance must be checked and approved as per the guidelines of the ETOPS document sections that address such situation (Kinnison & Siddiqui, 2012). In addition, the ETOPS certificate also requires the application of an elaborate verification program. The program is a vital requirement that guides the resolution of airplane discrepancies on ETOPS significant systems (Moir & Seabridge, 2011). For example, the verification program confirms corrective actions on ETOPS significant areas such as engine shutdown, adverse trends, significant system failure, and any other major events that may adversely affect ETOPS operations (Valenti et al., 2006). On the other hand, task identification is an important maintenance requirement, which refers to the requirement for certificate holder to ensure proper identification of all tasks that must be accomplished to meet the ETOPS requirements.
Other important maintenance requirements are Centralized Maintenance Control Procedures, ETOPS Parts Control, Reliability Program, Engine Condition Monitoring, Oil Consumption Monitoring, APU In-Flight Start Program, ETOPS Parts Control, Reliability Program, Propulsion System Monitoring, Engine Condition Monitoring, Oil Consumption Monitoring, APU In-Flight Start Program, Configuration Maintenance and Procedures (CMP), and Procedural Changes (Lee, 2006).
In conclusion, ETOPS has evolved significantly since the beginning of the aircraft industry in the early 20th century. The ETOPS requirement was developed due to the desire of ensuring flight safety of twin-engine and three-engine aircrafts. The concept dictates the maximum distance that planes must not exceed from the nearest adequate airport on their flight path. For instance, the rule has evolved from 60 minutes to 180 minutes of extended operations. To meet the requirements of ETOPS, various maintenance requirements as discussed above are also stipulated.
Reference List
Kinnison, H., & Siddiqui, T. (2012). Aviation maintenance management. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Lee, W. (2006). Risk assessment modeling in aviation safety management. Journal of Air Transport Management, 12(5), 267-273.
Liou, J., Yen, L., & Tzeng, G. (2008). Building an effective safety management system for airlines. Journal of Air Transport Management, 14(1), 20-26.
Moir, I., & Seabridge, A. (2011). Aircraft systems: mechanical, electrical and avionics subsystems integration. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Stolzer, A., Halford, C., & Goglia, J. (2008). Safety management systems in aviation. Surrey, UK: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Valenti, M., Bethke, B., Fiore, G., How, J., & Feron, E. (2006). Indoor multi-vehicle flight testbed for fault detection, isolation, and recovery. Proceedings of the AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference and Exhibit, Keystone, CO, 63(1), 64-64.