Why do intercontinental jets avoid over the ocean flights?

My flight from Washington, D.C. to Kuwait could have been about four hours shorter had the aircraft flown straight east. If the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, then why do aircraft fly over the North American continent, Iceland and the European continent instead of flying due east from point "A" to point "B"?

You are correct, a straight line is the shortest distance between two points when the playing field is flat. The earth isn't flat so a curved line is actually shorter.

It's called the Great Circle Route

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_circl...

if you would have gone in a "straight" line from D.C. to the middle east it could have easily been 4 hours LONGER.

It's hard to fly a straight line over a curved surface. Plus the plane will follow the jet-stream. Aviation has quite a bit to do with wind patterns...

You didn't say what type of aircraft you flew on. Twin engine jet liners operate under ETOP rules,which basically means they have to stay within a certain distance of land when operating on 1 engine. This is for safety reasons and is regulated by the FAA and JAA and other regulatory agencies as well

becasue if something were to go wrong in the air (like engine outs, bird strike, medical emergency) then the plane could make a speedy landing.

flying over the ocean does not give the pilot that flexibility. Also, it may have something to do with the earths rotation...going east then south