Crossing the Atlantic by plane

The tragic news that an Air France Airbus 330-200 looks as though it may have crashed whilst crossing the Atlantic reminds me of one of the reasons why I hate using twin engined planes on transatlantic flights. British Airways fly Boeing 777s on many transatlantic routes and I hate using these planes. A plane crossing the Atlantic should have a minimum of three engines and since the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 are all pretty much out of service in the Western World that means a four engined plane.


Recently I read somewhere that an aeroplane engineer when asked why he only flew in planes with four engines, replied that it was because there were no five engined planes.


Notes for the technically interested:
Interestingly the FAA used to enforce the "60-minute rule", whereby the flight path of any twin-engined jet plane was restricted to within 60 minutes' flying time from a suitable airport in case of engine failure. This would prevent twin engined jets from flying the Atlantic and indeed it was this rule that lead to the popularity of three engined jets. Unfortunately the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has the "Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standard" which permits twin-engined commercial aircraft to fly routes that, at some points, are farther than a distance of 60 minutes' flying time from an emergency or diversion airport with one engine inoperative. There are in fact several ETOPS rules ranging from 120 minutes, through 138 minutes, 180 minutes up to 207 minutes and a 240 minute rule is in effect on a case to case basis.