User manual

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The operator’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) may approve ETOPS Maxi-
mum Diversion times for various areas of operation in accordance with
the re-quirements and limitations:
ETOPS type approval ratings have been awarded as ETOPS-90 (90 mi-
nutes maximum diversion time), ETOPS-120, ETOPS-138, ETOPS-180
and ETOPS-207.
ETOPS operational certification has been awarded to operators as:
• ETOPS-120 to cover twin-engine operations across the Atlantic
Ocean
• ETOPS-138 to cover northern routes when an airfield is closed
due to adverse weather
• ETOPS-180 to cover operations across the Pacific Ocean
• ETOPS-207 for Boeing 777 operations across the North Pacific.
Several commercial airline routes are still unavailable to two engine air-
craft because of ETOPS regulations. They are routes traversing the South
Pacific, southern Indian Ocean (such as Perth, Australia to Johannes-
burg, South Af-rica) and Antarctica (such as Auckland, New Zealand to
Buenos Aires, Argentina).
Unsatisfactory airline ETOPS operations can lead to a downgrade of capa-
bilities or even suspension of ETOPS operational certification by the CAA.
When is ETOPS required?
As mentioned above, an aircraft must stay within 60 minutes (two en-
gines) or 180 minutes (more than two engines) of flying time (Threshold
Time) from an Adequate Airport.
An adequate airport is an airport that meets landing limitations for a
specific airplane type. Weather conditions are irrelevant for an airport to
be used as adequate airport.
If a portion of a flight is planned beyond the Threshold Time limit (out-
side green circle on the map) additional ETOPS alternates must be desi-
gnated.