As reported by Yahoo News, American Airlines sent the wrong plane from LA to Hawaii, an Airbus A321S instead of the an Airbus A321H. The Airbus A321H, has an “ETOPS” certification, which requires the plane to carry additional equipment. When I first read the title of this article, I thought that they sent the wrong passengers to Hawaii which would have been crazier!

American Airlines Sends Wrong Plane LA To Hawaii

Washington (AFP) – American Airlines accidently sent the wrong plane across the ocean from Los Angeles to Hawaii, a company spokesman confirmed to AFP Sunday.

In the August 31 incident, first reported by transportation blogger Brian Sumers, a plane that was not authorized to fly long distances over open water made the flight — albeit safely — to Honolulu.

American Airlines spokesman Casey Norton said they were still looking into how the mix-up happened.

He emphasized that the plane that made the trip, an Airbus A321S, is the same plane as the one that was supposed to make it, an Airbus A321H, aside from having an “ETOPS” certification, which requires the plane to carry additional equipment.

“It has the same engine, same fuel tanks, same range,” Norton told AFP, but, he said, the A321H has extra medical oxygen — different than the oxygen masks that drop from the ceiling — in case of an in-flight medical emergency and an additional fire-suppression canister.

You can read the entire article here Yahoo News.

Bottom Line

I’m not familiar with the “ETOPS” certification but, it seems like they should just equip all their Airbus A321 planes with the extra equipment and they could avoid this confusion in the future. Honestly, how much could an extra fire-suppression canister and extra medical oxygen cost? What do you think?