Hi,

In TUTORIAL1 there was a note the in TUTORIAL2 there will be ETOPS guide.

until it will be out, can someone explain me in short how to plan and use ETOPS in the T7?

Mmmh... another extremely complex issue to sort out here...

There is absolutely no "in short" to your interesting questions, but let's try to shrink as much as I'm able to..

 

First of all, what is ETOPS?

ETOPS (EXTENDED TWIN OPERATIONS) is the acronym created by ICAO to describe the operation of twin-engine turbine aircraft over a route that contains a point further than  60 minutes flying time from an Adequate Airport, at the approved single engine inoperative cruise speed (under still air ISA conditions).

Usually, for B777, the 60 minutes is considered to be a standard distance of 420 nm (because it is considered to fly 420kts in single engine ops).
The ETOPS entry point is the point en-route at which the aircraft exceeds 420 nm from the closest en-route Adequate Airport.
The ETOPS segment starts at the EEP and ends when the flight path is back and remains within 420 nm from the closest en-route Adequate Airport (img from the FAA site)

 

Now, how far from an Adequate Airport can we fly then?

From Wikipedia I copy/paste:

 

The following ratings are awarded under current regulations according to the capability of the airliner:

• ETOPS-75
• ETOPS-90
• ETOPS-120/138
• ETOPS-180/207
• ETOPS-240
• ETOPS->240

However, ratings for ETOPS type approval are fewer. They are:

• ETOPS-90, which keeps pre-ETOPS Airbus A300B4 legally operating under current rules
• ETOPS-120/138
• ETOPS-180/207, which covers 95% of the Earth's surface.
• ETOPS->180 to Design Limit

Again, usually, for 777 ops we can consider the 180/207 minutes depending on the Airline qualification.

 

So, this should pretty much define your planning then: You always have to be within 207 mins from an Adequate Airport

(ok, I lied, because you also have to take into consideration FUEL policies for ETOPS Alternate; ETOPS Alternate's weather; Aircaft technical restrictions and a bunch of other stuff that REALLY you don't wanna know at this stage).

 

Ok, but.... how do we use ETOPS on our 777s?

 

We simply.... DON'T

Ok,ok let me explain this.

ETOPS is a planning requirement.

Once the ETOPS flight plan is loaded into the FMC, we just follow it. As simple as that.

The requirement, though, is to check - BEFORE entering ETOPS segments - the weather at the Adequate Alternate Airports.

If the weather is BELOW minimums, you evaluate whether to continue or re-route NON-ETOPS.

 

A good techinique you could use, is to create a 420nm circle (which represents your 60mins flying single engine bla bla bla) around your ETOPS Adequate airports in the FMC FIX page. 15/20mins BEFORE reaching the very end of the circle you're still flying in, you ask for weather at the ETOPS airport behind you and ahead of you, together with other possible alternates suitable for you. Depending on how the weather looks like, you make a decision.

 

This is a REAL shrinkage of the whole ETOPS bull...t, but I hope it gave you some kind of answer

Thanks for that. For someone who doesn't have a clue about ETOPS, it clarified in layman terms enough to start looking further :-)

Thx a lot

ETOPS also requires certain maintenance checks to be performed as well and is more restrictive regarding MEL's.

Now I will confuse you even more, with mentioning EROPS and LROPS muhuhuhahahaa

I read somewhere that the 777 is etops 330 approved is this correct obviously airline depending

Mmmh... another extremely complex issue to sort out here...

There is absolutely no "in short" to your interesting questions, but let's try to shrink as much as I'm able to..

 

First of all, what is ETOPS?

ETOPS (EXTENDED TWIN OPERATIONS) is the acronym created by ICAO to describe the operation of twin-engine turbine aircraft over a route that contains a point further than  60 minutes flying time from an Adequate Airport, at the approved single engine inoperative cruise speed (under still air ISA conditions).

Usually, for B777, the 60 minutes is considered to be a standard distance of 420 nm (because it is considered to fly 420kts in single engine ops).

The ETOPS entry point is the point en-route at which the aircraft exceeds 420 nm from the closest en-route Adequate Airport.

The ETOPS segment starts at the EEP and ends when the flight path is back and remains within 420 nm from the closest en-route Adequate Airport (img from the FAA site)

 

Now, how far from an Adequate Airport can we fly then?

From Wikipedia I copy/paste:

 

The following ratings are awarded under current regulations according to the capability of the airliner:

• ETOPS-75
• ETOPS-90
• ETOPS-120/138
• ETOPS-180/207
• ETOPS-240
• ETOPS->240

However, ratings for ETOPS type approval are fewer. They are:

• ETOPS-90, which keeps pre-ETOPS Airbus A300B4 legally operating under current rules
• ETOPS-120/138
• ETOPS-180/207, which covers 95% of the Earth's surface.
• ETOPS->180 to Design Limit

Again, usually, for 777 ops we can consider the 180/207 minutes depending on the Airline qualification.

 

So, this should pretty much define your planning then: You always have to be within 207 mins from an Adequate Airport

(ok, I lied, because you also have to take into consideration FUEL policies for ETOPS Alternate; ETOPS Alternate's weather; Aircaft technical restrictions and a bunch of other stuff that REALLY you don't wanna know at this stage).

 

Ok, but.... how do we use ETOPS on our 777s?

 

We simply.... DON'T

Ok,ok let me explain this.

ETOPS is a planning requirement.

Once the ETOPS flight plan is loaded into the FMC, we just follow it. As simple as that.

The requirement, though, is to check - BEFORE entering ETOPS segments - the weather at the Adequate Alternate Airports.

If the weather is BELOW minimums, you evaluate whether to continue or re-route NON-ETOPS.

 

A good techinique you could use, is to create a 420nm circle (which represents your 60mins flying single engine bla bla bla) around your ETOPS Adequate airports in the FMC FIX page. 15/20mins BEFORE reaching the very end of the circle you're still flying in, you ask for weather at the ETOPS airport behind you and ahead of you, together with other possible alternates suitable for you. Depending on how the weather looks like, you make a decision.

 

This is a REAL shrinkage of the whole ETOPS bull...t, but I hope it gave you some kind of answer

 

 Superb explanation, thank you.

Francesco,

 

thank you very much for your superb explanation!

While we are talking ETOPS, can anyone tell me how to change the values in PFPX? Thanks in advance.

For PFPX there is an etops section under the advanced tab of the flight planning page just select the etops you want from the drop down menue and add the airports in to the etops boxes below from the list of adequate airports

 

 

 

 

cheers

 

 

kav

While we are talking ETOPS, can anyone tell me how to change the values in PFPX? Thanks in advance.

What values?

The ETOPS value itself is default 120 on the PFPX 777 bit if you have an aircraft / Airline that is certified for ETOPS 180 or more you can change it in the aircraft settings (aircraft database, edit aircraft). If you have done that it will become availible on the ETOPS planning tab while planning your flight.

What values?

The ETOPS value itself is default 120 on the PFPX 777 bit if you have an aircraft / Airline that is certified for ETOPS 180 or more you can change it in the aircraft settings (aircraft database, edit aircraft). If you have done that it will become availible on the ETOPS planning tab while planning your flight.

DOH!....Thanks Morvious, my excuse is it's still early :blink:

hi Francesco ,

 

 

 

 

You highlight etops 180 /207 for the 777. but surely a 777 can fly further that 207 nm in 180 minutes even with one engine?

 

where did these figures come from?

 

according to PFPX etops choices for the 777 lr etops 180 gives you a max diversion dist of 1217 nm which makes more sense to me . for etops 90 is gives 579 nm max diversion distance. Please can you help me understand this whole concept

 

 

tks

 

 

 

kav

the 180/207 is a reference to the 15% additive to ETOPS limits.
same with ETOPS 120/138

 

207 is not NM but MINUTES