Transatlantic Twins

When Charles Lindbergh made the first solo flight from New York to Paris in 1927, his Spirit of St. Louis plane had only one engine. But since 1939 all passenger aircraft crossing the Atlantic have been equipped with at least three. That is about to change. TWA announced last week that starting in April, it will fly from St. Louis to Paris and Frankfurt in twin-engine Boeing 767s. The airline will be the first to take advantage of a proposed change in Federal Aviation Administration rules permitting twin-engine commercial planes to make the crossing.

These planes have established an exceptional safety record during the past two decades. Since two engines have never failed independently on a modern airliner, industry experts now consider the twins safe for the long Atlantic crossing. The 767s, which are both smaller and lighter than the 747s and other aircraft they will replace on these routes, consume less fuel and require only two pilots instead of three. Thus they are about half as expensive to operate. TWA says, however, that tickets on two-engine flights across the Atlantic will cost the same as those on The 767 will fly further for less three-engine ones.