United Express Flight From SFO Delayed Because Pilot Forgets His iPad

Sounds trivial, but with pilots going paperless, I'm pretty sure his iPad probably had most of his essential documentation.

Just follow 101S to Burbank lol

This happened to me on a Delta flight from ATL-GPT in July of this year.We sat at the gate until the co-pilot returned from the previous gate he came in on.The pilot explained that we could not leave because all the routing info foo the flight was on his ipad.

At our regional airline, all we carry is iPads which contain all of our charts, manuals, MELs, etc. We can not start a flight without 2, but can continue a flight when one malfunctions. They've had studies on the likelihood of both iPads failing and its very slim. Each Captain is also required to carry a backup battery. If both iPads were to fail, we are instructed to go through our ACARS and have dispatch send us the textual versions of the charts. We are told when and what to download on our iPad and can not use it for anything personal. We carry spares at each hub airport that our fully charged and updated, so that if this were to occur, then the flight wouldn't be delayed.

I assure you that is not the first time that has happened... We have had more than 1 cancel due to that...

the cockpit crews do use ipads for a lot in todays aviation industry..i remember a few years back working a flight where the captain left his cell phone at the layover hotel, and the flight was delayed until the hotel shuttle people could bring it to airport as it had information of some sort he needed..it was about 30 minutes..nowadays you don't see the "kit bags"for paperwork that the crews used to have..

why do united pilots not carry a back up to a device that could die or malfunction, which is made of paper and hardly ever malfunctions? Question- did the other pilot have a workable ipad, or do they have to have two ipads on board at all times.Did flight dispatch in san fran not have an ipad in stock for just an occasion? Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance...

It's pretty easy to kill an electronic device. Water, heat, hand to floor contact will all do the job. There should be back-ups available at all airports. It's not like a map of ORD changes from one device to another. And company iPads shouldn't have personal stuff on them. If the company pays for it, they tell you what software can be on the unit and how you can use it.

I sincerely hope that that a single iPad is not the only copy of the charts on the entire aircraft. Devices can malfunction. I would hate to have my chart shut down and refuse to turn back on, for example.