A FEW DOZEN American Airlines flights were grounded last night due to an iPad app glitch, the Verge reports.
The airline makes use of Apple’s tablets to store essential flight data for pilots, replacing the traditional flight bags and manuals.
But on Tuesday night an issue with the iPad app caused chaos, delaying takeoff for numerous flights.
American Airlines spokesperson told the Verge that ”some flights are experiencing an issue with a software application on pilot iPads,” and that “in some cases, the flight had to return to the gate to fix the issue.”
The tech news site was also told that “a few dozen flights were affected,” and that American Airlines had “identified the issue, we’ve identified the solution, and we are working on it right now.”
One passenger told Quartz that “The pilot told us when they were getting ready to take off, the iPad screens went blank, both for the captain and co-pilot, so they didn’t have the flight plan.”
“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 behaviour,” said another.
American Airlines first started using iPads in 2012 — the first airline given permission to do so by the FAA. Here’s a video from the airline about the program:
The airline uses the app to alleviate the need for pilots to carry heavy paperwork. They say that the plan would save $1.2 million a year in fuel.
They did not say how much the delayed flights cost.
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