Flight diverted to Boston after passenger complains of flu

Boston.com ^ | May 1, 2009 | Martin Finucane

[the OlLine Rebel]

See post #7.

[corkoman]

However, I don't think the 737 is allowed to fly across oceans. Last I saw, the only twin engine airliner allowed to do that is the 777.

US Air flies 757s back and forth to Euroland. Not fun.

[fortunecookie]

“Rimshot Joe” was right! Stay off of airplanes.

LOL. I caught the news while in my car earlier, and they opened the hour with a nod to Joe. Kind of laughing off his 'misstep', they announced he would be flying after all on a foreign trip with several stops. Of course, we all know he won't be mingling with the hoi polloi, 'breathing their air'. The announcer didn't mention that.

[Reeses]

was being taken to Masachusetts General Hospital

A hospital? What is it?

[dfwgator]

It’s a big building with patients, but that’s not important right now.

[OA5599]

Yeah, now that you mention it, I flew from NYC to Moscow on a 777 and came back on a 767. Don’t know what I was thinking. I guess I really picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

[2CAVTrooper]

“However, I don’t think the 737 is allowed to fly across oceans. Last I saw, the only twin engine airliner allowed to do that is the 777.”

I flew on a 767 from Frankfurt Germany to JFK, so the 777 isn’t the only ETOPS certified airliner. I also know that the Airbus A330 is ETOPS

Besides, according to FlightAware Flight 903 is equipped with a Boeing 777-200 but no one should expect a moron “reporter” from the kennel liner known as the Boston Globe to ever know what they’re talking about.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL903/history

[Republic of Texas]

So the FAA doesn’t care if it infects Boston in order to save DC?

[2CAVTrooper]

I know. I smell a rat, and I’m dreading what’s to come when the other shoe drops.

I don’t know what it is, but every time I see Zero on TV, I keep hearing the song “Symphony of Destruction” by Megadeth

“You take a mortal man,
And put him in control
Watch him become a god,
Watch peoples heads aroll
Aroll...

Just like the pied piper
Led rats through the streets
We dance like marionettes,
Swaying to the symphony...
Of destruction”

[tcrlaf]

737’s fly across the atlantic ALL THE TIME. 700ER’s, 800ER’s, and 900ER’s can be configured for ETOPS, as well as the BBJ.

Flyglobespan did it with the 700ER series, and the Irish national Airlines (??? It’s late) flew 737’s Shannon-Detroit as far back as the late-80’s.

Lufthansa and KLM used PrivatAir 737’s configured for all International Business class for some time, starting back in 2002, before switching to the 319’s when they became available.

[tcrlaf]

“Last I saw, the only twin engine airliner allowed to do that is the 777.”

OLD NEWS....
That hasn’t been the case for over a decade now.

[OA5599]

Yeah, someone already pointed that out to me. Since I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines, I forgot about my trip across the Atlantic on a 767. In fact, of all my trips across the Atlantic, only once was it on a 777.

So I looked into ETOPS. The 767 was the first ETOPS aircraft. Previous to ETOPS, twin engines were restricted to 60 minutes from a landing strip. In 1985, the 767 was allowed 120 minutes. In 1988, there was a 180 minute provision for aircraft with one year of trouble-free 120 minute ETOPS. The 777 was the first aircraft to have 180 ETOPS on entry to service.

Since 180 ETOPS covers about 95% of the world, I suppose that is where I bungled the 777 factoid. No more shootin’ from the hip for me.

And of course, ETOPS is for the US. The Euros were doing a 90 minute rule for the A300 back in the 70’s.