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JetBlue and American Airlines Giving iPad Electronic Flight Bags to All Pilots
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Those of you heralding this as a "great decision" know nothing about being a commercial airline pilot. Ask one of them what they think of this, and odds are they'll groan. In an emergency -- which is when you want access to these manuals -- the fact that you're limited to a single page on that iPad is extremely limiting. When they go through simulations, they'll often have multiple pages/multiple manuals up at the same time. On top of that, the custom apps used for managing this stuff (e.g., the "Content Locker" used by United) are often unwieldy and difficult to use.
Trading functionality for convenience is a piss-poor trade when we're talking about the safety of 100+ people's lives.
Trading functionality for convenience is a piss-poor trade when we're talking about the safety of 100+ people's lives.
My company also was approved for EFB use via the iPad after an extensive testing and certification period. Our manual still requires what we call, 'ship charts' as a backup. Where paper copies of the thick manuals we used to carry around are assigned to, and kept in, the ship, instead of us crews bringing our own. Revisions are done during hub sits by operations personnel.
It's much better, now I don't have to lug my 50# flight case around the airport between flights anymore and it saves fuel. It's a win-win.
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Believe it or not, it's still an issue. The biggest problem I've seen at my carrier is false cargo fire warnings due to faulty/inadequate insulation of the cargo fire suppression system wiring harness that is routed just below our passenger windows.
When we were approved for EFB's, it took several years, lots of bench and operational testing in conjunction with the manufacturer, FAA and company. We had to place ours a bit further back away from the CA's side tiller than they wanted because of interference with the magnetic compass and the case/mount system we have has RFID shielding to keep interference away from our communication system... as early bench testing was producing a lot of headset buzzing/interference.
Damn, WSI Optima and Comply365 may be functional, but that's a couple of seriously ugly apps especially considering both have been designed for somethings as cool as aviation and weather.
Wow, that's a lot of fuel. I think that the airlines should use some money campaigning against the obesity problem.
Pilot'S there are usually about at least 2 of them sometimes 3. The chance of all the ipads failing is like all 4 forgetting to bring the paper books along.
More ways to save fuel
Get rid of the horrible airline magazines & remove all in flight entertainment. Let passengers carry their own tablet, phone or e-reader and leave them alone.
I would also ban all pointless pilot chatter on the intercom after you leave the gate.
Get rid of the horrible airline magazines & remove all in flight entertainment. Let passengers carry their own tablet, phone or e-reader and leave them alone.
I would also ban all pointless pilot chatter on the intercom after you leave the gate.
I'm a private pilot who makes extensive use of my iPad. I've had it overheat (not so much because of a lack of AC but because of the direct sunlight it was getting while strapped into a knee-board style case), and the failure was not a problem because I'm a competent pilot with backup systems and would never, ever rely totally on a consumer-grade device. It's FANTASTIC when it's working (and most pilots experience is that it's very reliable) but if it fails, so what? You're crazy if you're flying anywhere totally dependent on a GPS track to get you there.
Furthermore, what on earth was this guy doing using his iPad in the traffic pattern of an airport? That of all times is when he needs to have his eyes outside scanning for traffic and keeping the plane right side up. He sounds unsafe not because of an iPad failure but because he's flying around with his eyes inside or down instead of outside.
They'll need to spend the money they save on a staff that does nothing but creates and manages one iTunes account per each device.
By this logic, since they let pilots steer the plane they should let the passengers do it to? There's a difference between having a piece of equipment under airline and pilot control and a piece of equipment under passenger control.
It scares me how many people think they're experts on things like this. People just "know" that these rules are stupid, without really understanding anything about how radio works, how mass production works, how aircraft work, statistics, or human nature. Personally, because everything I throw up always comes down, I "know" that it's impossible for a 300 ton aircraft to float in the air-- and yet it does.
Unauthorized wireless devices isn't a pilots vs. passenger thing. It's FAA vs. common sense. Since they want to cover themselves for possible lawsuits we all have to suffer. Meanwhile, there are thousands of flights daily with thousands of passengers (including me) using wireless during takeoff and landing.
I'll be getting my first iPad soon, then 2nd gen Mini. But I want a cover/folder for it then I can't find the right design. Yes I know not to buy anything yet as the size could change even by a few mm.
I want a folder type cover where I have a pocket for papers and business card slots, maybe an ink pen and 'touch' pen to use on the iPad. Does such a cover exist, because I'm yet to see anything that fits my needs.
I want a folder type cover where I have a pocket for papers and business card slots, maybe an ink pen and 'touch' pen to use on the iPad. Does such a cover exist, because I'm yet to see anything that fits my needs.
As I recall, the current setup is as follows:
1 iPad for the Pilot
1 iPad for the Co-Pilot
1 iPad for the Plane
1 copy of the paper versions for the Plane
This replaces two of the 3+ dead-tree copies previously carried (@ ~40 lbs ea) with 3 iPads, for a *significant* weight savings, which results in a significant fuel savings.
I'm just curious how you know you're right, and why you're confident enough in your knowledge to possibly risk the safety of a plane full of people for your own convenience.
Common sense is just what it says: the sense of common people. This is not a substitute for the knowledge of experts. Thinking the gun is empty because you've spun the chamber 3 times and it hasn't gone off is what gets people killed.
This trend towards intuition over science, and "I don't understand it so it must be a conspiracy", is going to be the ruin of a nation.
Please tell me you aren't referring to the FAA as experts.
I also love how you bring up science -- because you'll also notice that throughout all the hubbub surrounding this issue, scientific evidence is precisely what has been absent in supporting the current policy and restrictions. The current policy is a function of overly conservative bureaucrats combined with a "Why risk it?" approach to policymaking. While that's not an inherently bad way to develop policy, when it's taken to the extreme -- i.e., when there is no evidence to support the probability of those risks -- it is.
I like the 10,000 feet rule simply due to possible emergency situations. Difficult to get a cabin under control when there is an emergency with everyone on their electronic devices.
There have been cases of electronic devices interfering with the aircraft systems. One is on an international flight in a 747. Someone turned on their laptop and the autopilot put the plane in a slight right bank. They took the laptop from the passenger, turned it off and the plane leveled out. They turned it back on, plane entered the right bank again. The FAA took another 747 out and tried it without success.
Another story told by one my professors who was a former airline pilot, she was taking off and a passenger had their cell phone on. Shortly after rotating, one of her instruments( I forgot which one) went inoperative. Again, took the phone turned it off and the instrument was operative again.
While these events are extremely rare and they may be caused due to the aircrafts age, there are instances of it.
But, again I like the rule simply from a perspective of preparing the cabin for an emergency.
There have been cases of electronic devices interfering with the aircraft systems. One is on an international flight in a 747. Someone turned on their laptop and the autopilot put the plane in a slight right bank. They took the laptop from the passenger, turned it off and the plane leveled out. They turned it back on, plane entered the right bank again. The FAA took another 747 out and tried it without success.
Another story told by one my professors who was a former airline pilot, she was taking off and a passenger had their cell phone on. Shortly after rotating, one of her instruments( I forgot which one) went inoperative. Again, took the phone turned it off and the instrument was operative again.
While these events are extremely rare and they may be caused due to the aircrafts age, there are instances of it.
But, again I like the rule simply from a perspective of preparing the cabin for an emergency.
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