Several American Airlines flights grounded by iPad app glitch

Several American Airlines flights have been delayed indefinitely as an app used by pilots on their iPads during takeoff encountered a glitch. {intro}

American Airlines confirmed the bug via a tweet:

@bjacaruso Some flights are experiencing an issue with a software application on pilot iPads. We'll have info about your departure soon.

— American Airlines (@AmericanAir) April 29, 2015

The glitch seems to be affecting American Airlines' entire fleet of 737s, according to a passenger on one of the grounded flights:

Pilot just told us ALL 737's in American Airline fleet grounded...iPad shutdown glitch...wtf #apple we have no AC pic.twitter.com/4INSxMoeVN

— pmcrell (@pmcrell) April 29, 2015

In a statement to The Verge, the airline revealed that it has identified the problem, and is currently working on a solution:

In some cases, the flight has had to return to the gate to access a Wi-Fi connection to fix the issue. We apologize for the inconvenience to our customers. We are working to have them on the way to their destination as soon as possible." Another spokesperson said that the issue affected "a few dozen flights" across the airline. "We've identified the issue, we've identified the solution, and we are working on it right now."

To be clear, it sounds like there's nothing wrong with the iPads themselves, but with the code AA sent them on this occasion.

American Airlines became the first airline to gain FAA approval to switch to iPads in place of traditional "flight bags" gate to gate, with its entire fleet of planes now equipped with iPads.

Hopefully, whatever happened, it'll be analyzed and procedures will be put in place to prevent it from happening again. We'll update the post with additional details as and when we get them.