File this one under “how the hell did that happen?” On August 31, American sent an A321 from LA to Honolulu that wasn’t allowed to fly that far from land. While I don’t think any passengers were really in any danger, it’s concerning that nobody caught this when there were so many people who could have. American has made some changes to ensure it doesn’t happen again, but that doesn’t lessen the severity of this issue.
The flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu is a long and lonely one. In fact, there is absolutely nothing for 5 hours straight, and that means there’s nowhere to divert if something goes wrong. Engine reliability has become so good over the years that airlines have been able to fly even twin-engine aircraft on long stretches like this with just a few conditions. They have to be ETOPS-certified (which used to mean Extended Twin Engine Operations but now applies to all aircraft), they have to carry special gear, and they have to have a ton of fuel (enough to lose an engine at the exact midpoint and make it all the way back to an airport). This is noted on the nose gear of every American aircraft that has ETOPS.