History
The first direct transatlantic air crossing was made in 1919, by John Alcock and Arthur Brown, in a twin-engined Vickers Vimy. It took sixteen hours. Due to the unreliability of piston engines at the time, long-distance flight using twin engines was considered very risky. More than two engines were seen as a must for flight over long distances and inhospitable terrain, or over the ocean.
In 1953 the US Federal Aviation Administration, having recognized piston engine limitations, introduced the 60-minute rule for 2-engine aircraft. This rule stated that the flight path of twin-engined aircraft should not be farther than 60 minutes of flying time from an adequate airport. This forced these aircraft, on certain routes, to fly a dogleg path to stay within regulations; they were totally excluded from certain routes due to lack of en-route airports. The 60-minute rule was also called the 60-minute diversion period. The totally excluded area was called the exclusion zone.
In the 1950s Pan Am flew Convair 240s across the Caribbean, from Barranquilla to Kingston, and Avensa flew 340s from Maracaibo to Montego Bay; if the 60-minute rule applied to them it must have been 60 minutes at all-engine speed (Barranquilla to Kingston was about 808 km with almost no other airports to help). Delta's Convair from New Orleans to Havana flew a longer trip but could arc north to stay within reach of an airport.
Read more about this topic: ETOPS
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