An American Airlines flight from London approaches Los Angeles International Airport on March 30, 2015.(Photo: Nick Ut, AP)
Travelers were scrambling for alternative transportation after a glitch with iPads used by pilots forced American Airlines to ground dozens of flights Tuesday night.
Healthcare entrepreneur Dan Webb told USA TODAY via Twitter that he was on board American Flight 1654 that was to travel Tuesday night from Dallas to Austin, his home, when the crew informed passengers of the problem.
"Passengers told they could get off if wanted to," tweeted Webb, 32, who took the airline up on that offer.
American said in an email to USA TODAY that the issue was rooted in a problem with software applications on iPads. About two dozen flights had to be grounded because of the issue, said Andrea Huguely, American Airlines director of corporate communications.
"In some cases, the flight has had to return to the gate to access a Wi-Fi connection to fix the issue," Huguely said.
"We apologize for the inconvenience to our customers," she said. "We are working to have them on the way to their destination as soon as possible."
Two years ago, American Airlines became the first airline to use tablets in all cockpits throughout flights. The so-called An Electronic Flight Bag replaced more than 35 pounds of paper reference material and manuals that pilots often carried in their carry-on kitbag, the airline said then. The 8,000 ipads eliminated 24 million pages of paper and could save the airline more than $1 million per year in fuel costs, the airline said.
Paper does not need an occasional reboot, however. Webb, who said he boarded another flight to Austin, was one of a handful of people buzzing via Twitter Tuesday night regarding the iPad issue.
Business owner Bill Jacaruso also was on the flight and said after the airplane was sitting for quite some time, the pilot came over the loudspeaker to explain.
"He said, 'My copilot's iPad went black. Exactly 24 minutes after that, mine went black. We were informed it looks like a problem with all the iPads on 737s,' " Jacaruso, 54, recalled.
He and his wife, Toni, were returning from a visit with his mother in North Carolina and opted to rent a car and drive back home to Austin.
Passenger Philip McRell, who lives in Plano, also opted to drive to Austin, where he has business appointments.
The crew explained that flight plans are transmitted on the iPads, which make them crucial to navigation, said McRell, 43.
McRell said when he left, about a dozen other passengers also opted to abandon the flight and continue their travel some other way.
The glitch came two weeks after the U.S. Government Accountability Office warned that i on-board wifi conceivably could be used to bring down a plane.
"Modern aircraft are increasingly connected to the internet. This interconnectedness can potentially provide unauthorized remote access to aircraft avionics systems."
Contributing: John Bacon
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