A few years ago, American Airlines announced that they would be replacing the flight bags of their pilots with iPads. They even released a video showing off how the entire setup would look like. Admittedly it look rather futuristic and showed that the iPad had a great deal of promise not just amongst consumers, but working professionals as well.However it seems that the reliance on the iPad does have some drawbacks because due to a glitch in the software, American Airlines flight #1654 from Dallas to Austin had to remain grounded as the iPads of its pilots suddenly “went blank”.
According to a report from Quartz, they quoted a passenger as saying, “The pilot came on and said that his first mate’s iPad powered down unexpectedly, and his had too, and that the entire 737 fleet on American had experienced the same behavior. It seemed unprecedented and very unfamiliar to the pilots.”
Apparently this had to do with the Jeppesen Mobile Terminal Chart app which is used by the airline company and is also approved by the FAA. American Airlines has since confirmed that not only was that particular route delayed, but that “several dozen” flights had also been grounded due to the issue with the iPad.
No doubt that this is something they’ll want to look into, especially when you consider that the tablets have the pilot’s flight plan loaded onto them, so imagine if this happened mid-flight, it could prove to be rather dangerous.
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