Is It True That American Airlines Accidentally Flew A Non-ETOPS Airbus A321 To Hawaii?

The headline here is not intended to be deceiving. American Airlines really did, by its own account, send a non-ETOPS-certified Airbus A321 on a long-haul flight from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) in Honolulu in August 2015. That makes the core claim here fundamentally true, but while the aircraft could physically make the trip, flying that far over water requires more than just range.