FAA To Change Twin-Engine Airliner Regulations

U.S. regulators are near to concluding that jetliners with two
engines are as safe as those with three or four engines and
should have the same flexibility in flying long-distance
routes, a report said. The Federal Aviation Administration is
nearing completion of rules that are expected particularly to
benefit BOEING CO.'s twin-engine 777 airliner, The Wall Street
Journal said. The rules also are expected to benefit Boeing's
strategy of building planes capable of flying passengers
directly to their destinations without transferring through
busy hub airports, the Journal said, citing industry officials.
Twin-engine planes currently have to stay within 3-1/2 hours of
an emergency landing strip while flying across wide expanses of
ocean or polar terrain, the newspaper said. Chet Ekstrand, a
senior Boeing safety official, said on Friday that he does not
expect the final regulations will have any changes of substance
from a draft the FAA released in November 2003. Officials from
the FAA and Boeing rival Airbus declined to comment. Airbus is
owned by EADS and BAE SYSTEMS PLC.
(Reuters 03:37 AM ET 06/05/2006)

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