iPhone Glitch Leads Motorists to Drive on Airport Runway

Two motorists have recently driven along Fairbanks International Airport’s taxiway and across a runway, due to a glitch in Apple’s Maps app, reports the Alaska Dispatch.

When drivers would ask the app for turn-by-turn directions to Fairbanks Airport, the map would show a route that ran along the taxiway, rather than to airport parking or drop-off areas. The app route ended at Taxiway B, which is directly across the runway from the terminal, so drivers who had followed the directions apparently figured that they could just drive across the runway to reach the terminal.

Melissa Osborn, chief of operations at the airport, told the Alaska Dispatch, “These folks drove past several signs. They even drove past a gate. None of that cued them that they did something inappropriate.”

The airport has now added barriers to prevent access to the taxiway, and has requested that Apple remove the destination from their maps until the flaw is fixed. Osborn also stated that, “We asked them to disable the map for Fairbanks until they could correct it, thinking it would be better to have nothing show up than to take the chance that one more person would do this,” but that Apple replied with a “lot of legal speak”, and that the problem was still happening after they made their request.

Has a GPS ever lead you astray? Tell us in the comments.

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