Boeing 787 Completes ETOPS Testing

Boeing completed extended twin-engine operations (Etops) testing on the 787 Dreamliner on Sunday, company vice president of marketing Randy Tinseth revealed today on his blog, Randy’s Journal. The team reached the milestone during a test flight of Dreamliner ZA102, the ninth 787 built and the same airplane that flew the longest flight for the type to date at just over 18 hours.

Following what Tinseth called a minor software modification next year, the Dreamliner will qualify for 330 minutes of Etops capability. The flight-test team plans to spend the “next few weeks” finishing function and reliability (F&R) demonstrations, leading to initial type certification of the 787 with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines. Launch customer ANA of Japan expects to take delivery of the first airplane in September.