NOT EVEN APPLE’S ADS TOLD US THAT THE iPAD WAS FLYING THE PLANE

Remember the old days when pilots would trudge through the airport with two or three stacked carry-on bags filled with flight manuals and route information? Now, if you are flying an American Airlines 777 or perhaps United or Alaska Air, your pilot may be using an FAA approved electronic flight bag in the form of a loaded iPad. It is really interesting to note that the latest tech innovations may not be in the cockpit of a recent model commercial jet. Instead, pilots have been given authorization to use the 1.5 pound Apple iPad. Pilots are quick to point out its advantages – approach charts that allow zoom in and out, maps over backlit screens that beat anything on the instrumentation panel, and the ability to more closely monitor a wide variety of “situational stress”. Of course the big question is “are they going to have to turn off their iPads when passengers are instructed to do the same? Right now, it appears that the answer is no since Wi-Fi and cell connections are turned off in the cockpit during critical portions of flight. So the next time you’re strapped in during ascent, and that announcement about turning off “all electronic appliances” comes over the PA, listen carefully for the sounds of the Angry Birds coming from the front of the aircraf