Skip to main content

Apple’s aviation inaccuracies

Two drivers in Alaska caused some concern to aviation movements by following directions from Apple Maps. The drivers first crossed the taxiway and then the runway at Fairbanks Airport. How they were able to enter the supposedly secure airport however has not been revealed and nor have their IQ ratings. The drivers ignored numerous signposts and painted markings saying that the area they were entering was restricted to aircraft and not for road vehicles. The airport authorities erected barriers until the map
February 19, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Two drivers in Alaska caused some concern to aviation movements by following directions from Apple Maps. The drivers first crossed the taxiway and then the runway at Fairbanks Airport. How they were able to enter the supposedly secure airport however has not been revealed and nor have their IQ ratings. The drivers ignored numerous signposts and painted markings saying that the area they were entering was restricted to aircraft and not for road vehicles. The airport authorities erected barriers until the maps could be corrected.

This is one of a series of blunders in the Apple Maps function. Drivers in Ireland looking for Dublin Airport were for a time directed to a farm called Airfield, some 17km from their proper destination. Meanwhile in Victoria, Australia, police at one point criticised inaccurate directions to the town of Mildura as being potentially life threatening. Apple customers could take note that old-fashioned maps are able to operate faultlessly without the need for either an electrical supply or a GSM signal and do not have issues with battery life. Meanwhile also in the US, the pilot of a light aircraft caused some disturbance to motorists when he had to make an emergency landing on a highway in Florida.

The engine of his aircraft began to fail and the pilot realised he was not going to be able to reach the nearest airstrip. He immediately began looking for the nearest stretch of straight road and managed to land the historic aircraft on State Road 415 without injury, although he did cause some traffic disturbance.

Related Content

  • Storage Facility
    May 22, 2018
    Many UK drivers use their vehicles to store highly unlikely items according to a study. Amongst the more peculiar items kept in cars by their owners are mannequins, a bale of hay, 52 pies, a Ouija board, a false leg, 160 hats, 24 rolling pins, a wicker reindeer, two single mattresses, a hamster cage, parts of a railway engine and a urine container. The study also found that 25% of drivers are ashamed of how dirty their vehicles are with a further 5% admitting to never cleaning their vehicles. The study was
  • Wrong time to end right turns?
    March 15, 2024
    Banning right-hand turns after stopping for a red light is gaining momentum in the US. But debate continues about whether it will result in fewer incidents between vehicles and alternative mobility users. David Arminas reports.
  • Highways England and Keir trial warning airbag
    May 3, 2021
    “Home Safe and Well”* is not just an inflated phrase put out by Highways England to raise awareness of work zone dangers
  • Brisbane’s Airport: Innovative Management of One of the World’s Busiest Runways
    June 26, 2014
    When it comes to runways, there are few busier then Brisbane’s main runway. Servicing both domestic and international travel, with over 200,000 movements per year, operating without a curfew Brisbane’s main runway is the busiest in Australia. For maintenance, crews only have a limited period of time to determine the pavement condition, normally during the night, making the detection of pavement faults difficult. To resolve this issue, a new high speed pavement scanner was used to rapidly survey the pavem