Flights get delayed for any number of reasons: bad weather, crew members running late, mechanical problems and trouble with pilots’ iPads. Okay, that last one doesn’t seem routine, but American Airlines says that was exactly the reason why dozens of the airline’s flights were delayed Tuesday night.

The Dallas Morning News reports that about two dozen flights were delayed because of a glitch in the navigation software application on iPads pilots use to receive flight plans and other information crucial to flying.

The iPads are used to replace the heavy paper manuals, navigational charge and other printed material that pilots previously had to haul from plane to plane.

An American Airlines spokesperson said that the company is looking into the cause of the problem, but apologized for inconveniencing travelers.

She said that in some cases, the glitch forced flights to return to the gate to access WiFi to fix the issue.

USA Today reports that many pilots were rather candid about the issue while waiting for a remedy.

One passenger reported that the pilot of his flight got on the loudspeaker to explain the issue holding up the flight.

“He said, ‘My copilot’s iPad went black. Exactly 24 minutes after that, mine went black,'” the man recalls. “We were informed it looks like a problem with all the iPads on 737s.'”

Computer glitch delays American Airlines flights Tuesday night [Dallas Morning News]
iPad glitch grounds two dozen American flights [USA Today]

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