The American Airlines flight out of Hawaii was told to make an ‘accelerated climb’ to avoid mountains

CNN
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The Federal Aviation Administration says an air traffic controller’s instructions prevented an American Airlines plane from hitting mountains near Honolulu International Airport in Hawaii.

The agency is investigating the incident on American Flight 298 just after takeoff, bound for Los Angeles early Wednesday morning. Open-source flight tracking data from the ADS-B Exchange shows the flight took off from Honolulu’s Runway 8 and headed east toward the Koʻolau mountain range.

“An air traffic controller directed American Airlines Flight 298 to perform an accelerated climb after the crew failed to make the assigned turn while departing from Honolulu International Airport,” the FAA says. “The controller’s actions ensured the aircraft remained safely over nearby terrain.”

Audio from LiveATC.net captures the air traffic controller from Honolulu telling American 298 to “accelerate your climb … through terrain” and turn right.

In a statement, American Airlines says, “during the climb out of Honolulu on November 13, the crew of American Airlines flight 298 requested and received right turn clearance and complied with control instructions” and points out that “there was no Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) alert as there was no were there any ground clearance issues based on the aircraft’s trajectory.”

EGPWS is triggered when an aircraft is in danger of colliding with the terrain.

Flight tracking data shows that when the flight reached terrain, the flight was at least 1,500 feet above mountain peaks.