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by HPsquared 945 days ago
Any twin engine can fly with one engine out. The over-water part is that it can fly on one engine for a long distance to get back to an airport - which tends to be further away if you're flying over the ocean. Basically having a bit more margin in the design for extended endurance with an engine out.
1 comments

> Any twin engine can fly with one engine out.

That generalizes to 'any plane with more than one engine can fly with one engine out'.

> The over-water part is that it can fly on one engine for a long distance to get back to an airport - which tends to be further away if you're flying over the ocean.

That's where certification comes in: not all twin engine planes are ETOPS certified.

> Basically having a bit more margin in the design for extended endurance with an engine out.

Yes, and that translates into much more work than just 'a bit more margin' under the hood, to get that margin you also will need to take this into account during the design phase of the aircraft, crew training, maintenance schedule etc. Incidents under ETOPS conditions are rated more severely than those in other situations.