There have been thousands of flights since the iOS 8.3 upgrade and the Airline claims that this glitch has affected only a few dozen flights. Something is not right to blame the upgrade. I suspect a router at a specific airport before I would suspect the upgrade. The circumstances here just don’t support a glitch in the iPad update. It there were one, they’d be having the same problem everywhere in multiple airlines. Since it isn’t happening, it has to be localized and most likely external to the iPads.
You were right, Swordmaker. It was neither the iPad or the iOS 8.3 update, which was the problem! It was an APP which was the problem, and it stemmed from a duplicate entry in the app’s database that it could not handle, and so the app quit.
Because the iPad is so versatile, they found a temporary work-around very quickly, until the problem is corrected permanently!
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American Airlines planes grounded by iPad app error
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32513066
“We experienced technical issues with an application installed on some pilot iPads,” said a spokesman.
“This issue was with the third-party application, not the iPad, and caused some departure delays last night and this morning.
“Our pilots have been able to address the issue by downloading the application again at the gate prior to take-off and, as a back-up, are able to rely on paper charts they can obtain at the airport.
“We apologise for the inconvenience to our customers.”
American Airlines pilots use an app called FliteDeck, which is made by the Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen.
The issue was caused by a duplicate chart for Reagan National Airport in American’s chart database,” said Mike Pound.
“The app could not reconcile the duplicate, causing it to shut down.
“We were able to remedy the situation quickly, and instruct pilots to uninstall and reinstall the app.
“Until the chart database is updated, AA pilots flying to or from National will use PDF [portable document format] images of the chart, outside of the app.”
And as I have pointed out that is how the Apple unit is designed. A single update can render the units inoperable or glitchy so as the system or the app will not work properly and apparently under the FAA rules if such happens the planes can't fly.
So the rules need changed or the system needs changed. At least some form of backup needs introduced so that a single point of failure can be dealt with.