currency and completeness of the charts. Paper chart revisions are issued every two weeks. A pilot can easily misfile a paper chart, remove the wrong one or forget to file the chart altogether by the time of the flight occurs. An outdated or misplaced chart can increase the possibility of accidents. Secondly, carrying the 40+ pound kitbag that holds all of the navigation charts is a cause of personal injuries of the pilots themselves. According to Patrick O’Keeffe, American Airlines’s vice president of Airline Operations Technology, “[American Airlines has] reduced the single biggest source of pilot injuries: carrying those packs.” The iPad also allows for a decrease of clutter in the cockpit. This leads to a safer flight for the pilot and passengers. Pilots need not spread out the large charts in the small cockpit, hence they don't obstruct the view. Pilots can quickly swipe their fingers around the chart as well as switch charts in matter of seconds. This give pilots more time to look out the cockpit window and allows them to be able to just take a glance instead of searching around on a map. A number of potential issues have been brought up including distractions in the cockpit, but the iPads are prohibited from being used for non-flight purposes and pilots are still using onboard GPS instruments. Other potential safety issues included application failure and system failure, but in the three-month test Executive Jet Management conducted, not once did the application shut off or have a failure. Tests did show that if a failure did take place the program could reboot in four to six seconds. Extra iPads in the cockpit are also being talked about as a backup to a system failure. Airlines are also looking into the safety of the placement of the iPads in the cockpit. The most popular placement is on a pilot's kneeboard, a strap that connects to the pilot's upper thigh and makes the device hands free, but many commercial airlines are looking into a dock that is connected to the plane itself. References IPad Avionics