... and to fly that way for quite some time with high confidence of success.
If you think about it: this aircraft was flying to Hawaii; after crossing the west coast, it would be flying almost 2,500 miles over the ocean to get there.
If you lost the engine halfway there (instead of soon after takeoff), you'd either have to turn around and fly back toward California or continue onwards; which is almost a three hour flight.
The concept is called ETOPS for Extended Twin Operations; and the Boeing 777 was the first twin-engine aircraft rated to do this (fly up to three hours for the nearest available airport).
If you think about it: this aircraft was flying to Hawaii; after crossing the west coast, it would be flying almost 2,500 miles over the ocean to get there.
If you lost the engine halfway there (instead of soon after takeoff), you'd either have to turn around and fly back toward California or continue onwards; which is almost a three hour flight.
The concept is called ETOPS for Extended Twin Operations; and the Boeing 777 was the first twin-engine aircraft rated to do this (fly up to three hours for the nearest available airport).