American Airlines' A321N Departure Anomaly

An American Airlines A321-251N, N418AN (msn 9550, f/n 418), failed to make the immediate right turn upon departure from Runway 8L last night. Operating as AAL298 to LAX, the A321N maintained runway heading until over Mānoa, then they made the right turn out toward Oʻahu's south shoreline, cutting across East Honolulu. The closest the A321N got to the Koʻolau Mountains was near Mānoa, but was well above the peaks. The flight continued onto LAX, and landed safely less than five hours later.

Normally, all departures from Runway 8L require a right turn of at least a heading of 140º, as soon as practical to avoid overflying metro Honolulu. For late night flights, narrow-body red-eyes to the west coast are allowed to depart from Runway 8L, since the traffic is light.