Le Chic Geek
Back before electronics were allowed during take off and landing, there were a lot of jokes about the damage an iPad or Kindle could do for your flight.
(Language warning)
But iPads delayed or sent planes back to the gate after the software pilots use crashed.
Pilots began experiencing a problem with the software that contains mapping and flight planning information at roughly 7 pm Pacific time Tuesday, a spokesman for the airline said.
In some cases, pilots were able to resolve the issue during the boarding process. Other pilots were forced to return the plane to the gate, according to American Airlines spokesperson Casey Norton.
Passengers also took to Twitter, though it looks like it isn’t an aircraft specific issue.
Quite a few folks tweeting about @AmericanAir flight problems on entire #737 fleet due to #iPad navigation problem; Working on details
— Michael King (@mhking) April 29, 2015
iPad bug apparently causing big problems for American’s 737 fleet https://t.co/6WIocMSxUa
— Alex Fitzpatrick (@AlexJamesFitz) April 29, 2015
The entire American Airlines fleet is at a ground stop b/c the pilots’ iPads can’t retrieve the flight plans. @AmericanAir, keep us posted.
— Toni Jacaruso (@HotelNinja) April 29, 2015
One passenger reported the captain was looking for a way to print (but apparently couldn’t print graphics on the airport dot matrix printers)
.@AmericanAir no update from the pilot of 2276 on the #iPad glitch. Apparently searching for a way to print nav charts.
— GradyB (@GradyBishop) April 29, 2015
Take these passengers with a grain of salt, since it’s their interpretation of what’s going on. But Twitter has definitely given an interesting lens into situations as they go on.
This is not limited to 737s. Sitting on a Super 80 awaiting the 175 mile flight from OKC to DFW and can confirm the same exact issue; iPad won’t come up and First Officer had to go to gate and print nav charts. Unreal! It’s like the old days when I had to print off Mapquest!