American Airlines flew non-ETOPS Airbus A321 on Hawaiian route, account says

An Airbus A321 was flown by American Airlines on a service to Hawaii even though the aircraft did not hold ETOPS certification, according to an account of the event. Twin-engine jets were barred from transoceanic flying before 1985, when regulators judged that distances from diversion airports and the reliability of piston engines made two-engine operations unsuitable over water. That rule pushed carriers toward three- and four-engine aircraft on most long-haul routes. The restrictions have since been rewritten, and twinjets now fly long overwater sectors routinely. Even so, an aircraft must still hold ETOPS approval before it can be dispatched on flights that take it far from a suitable diversion airport, which is the requirement the Hawaiian sector fell under. The account does not state when the flight took place, the outcome of the trip, or whether any regulator reviewed the dispatch.