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Apple Maps Flaw Sends Drivers Across Airport Runway
solareagle writes "The BBC reports that an Alaskan airport says it has had to place barricades across one of its taxiways after an Apple Maps flaw resulted in iPhone users driving across a runway. The airport said it had complained to the phone-maker through the local attorney general's office. '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,' Melissa Osborn, chief of operations at the airport, told the Alaska Dispatch newspaper. The airport said it had been told the problem would be fixed by Wednesday. However the BBC still experienced the issue when it tested the app, asking for directions to the site from a property to the east of the airport. By contrast the Google Maps app provided a different, longer route which takes drivers to the property's car park."
Now we see why big corporations retain batteries of lawyers to write voluminous "I Agree" waivers.
I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
Well, you did ask for the fastest route.
How did the driver get it onto the airport taxiways? I live pretty close to an airport and the taxiways are all very barricaded, you can't just drive onto an airport without someone noticing.
Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
They are using their roads incorrectly. Next time they should consult Apple before undertaking such projects so that the routes can be preapproved.
barricades had since been erected to block access to the final stretch of the taxiway and that they would not be removed until Apple had updated its directions.
Not clear why they weren't there before.
Cool. Apple is now providing taxiing directions for pilots!
Never shake hands with a man you meet in a fertility clinic.
"Google Maps Flaw Sends Drivers Across Pacific Ocean" -- article circa 2009
FTFS:
The airport said it had been told the problem would be fixed by Wednesday. However the BBC still experienced the issue when it tested the app,
umm, it's weds morning. give them to EOD sounds reasonable.
"The airport said it had complained to the phone-maker through the local attorney general's office."
The airport couldn't contact Apple directly? Instead they need to involve other levels of bureaucracy and red tape?
It's a user flaw.
I never understood how someone could just blindly follow GPS directions and enter what is most likely very well marked security area, or even just use common sense and NOT drive onto a runway. Also mind boggling is the idea of driving into a river or lake.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
The only problem is that stupid people might also take out the smart people on the plane.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
Supposedly the FAA issued a NOTAM (Notice To AirMen) about this, but I haven't been able to find it. I wonder what it said, something like "watch for dumbasses crossing the runway"?
99% of the time it's perfectly safe.
Umm...this is in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA.
Maybe the drivers in these cases should lose their license. Ignorance of the law is not a valid defense, so saying that my iPhone told me to drive across a runway should make no difference. If somebody is stupid enough to do that, they are too stupid to be allowed to drive. Maybe Apple should re-think their "Think Different" campaign and just tell people to "Think!"
It's called natural selection. If you are stupid enough to drive across a runway because your phone told you to, I say let them go ahead.
Very insightful... er, no, because you forgot the possibility that it could end badly for the pilot and passengers on any plane it collides with.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Stop trying to confuse the issue with your facts. I already said I KNOW this story is from England and I didn't even read the first sentence!
What do you expect from me? That I'd actually read TFS?
You must be new here.
Kid-proof tablet..
Is this the first sign of the technological singularity? What better way to start picking off the puny human race than to lead them into dangerous situations....
I for one, welcome our new robot overlords.
or a hotel, or possibly a church...
No.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Anybody that goes through TSA is stupid too.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
That's not remotely a 'main road'.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
You shouldn't be driving to the airport in the first place.
Take the light rail instead.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
What if this had been a "self-driven" car, like Google wants us to use?
Ooops.
Hundreds dead due to map error. Film at 11.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
You're not allowed to use your phone while driving.
Period.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Visited Gibralter a some years ago. I arrived by train from the Spanish side, went through customs and walked across the airport runway into Gibralter.
The airport is on the only flat section of land, and cars and pedestrians must cross the runway to enter Gibralter. On the way out, I heard an alarm going off and the gates far ahead of me were closing. Looked down the runway and there was a plane coming in. Needless to say I got off the runway as quickly as possible.
[Insert pithy quote here]
I live in Fairbanks Alaska, and use the airport a few times per month. Even though it serves big planes (737s and 757s, and even 747 cargo planes sometimes), it also has a substantial general aviation area, a float plane pond (i.e., a lake), and a number of small commercial operations that are on the GA side of the airport. You can see this a little bit in the the article's coverage, or fire up your favorite mapping program to take a look.
The commercial side of the airport is similar to anyplace else in the US: lots of fences, signs, and recordings saying you should not park in the red zone. The GA and small carrier side is more open. You can drive right up to, say, Wright Air's twin propeller aircraft and load up your dog food (or dogs). There are two pairs of runways and taxiways: one serves the commercial side, then there is a float pond in the middle, and then there is the side for GA and small in-state carriers.
What Apple directions do is bring people in via the GA side (which is over a mile away from the commercial side, and involves a very different driving route). As the article says, it's utterly ridiculous that anyone would drive from the GA side, through the parking lots onto the GA tarmac, onto the GA taxiway (literally driving among parked aircraft), cross the GA runway, find one of the crossing points for the pond, cross the commercial runway, and get onto the commercial taxiway on the way to the commercial tarmac. If they did, they'd have no way to get to the commercial side parking lot or into the ticket counter or whatever, without finding their way around a hefty fence. Ridiculous, unless you're ignoring all the signage and indicators that you're really in the wrong place.
The setup at FAI (aka PAFA) is not that unusual, even at fairly large airports. General aviation is very popular, and there are plenty of in-state commercial operations (especially in Alaska!) that do not require the same security procedures etc. as interstate or international. Getting to the general aviation area is usually just a matter of driving up. The situation at FAI, where you can get from the GA side to the commercial side, via runways, is typical at least at smaller regional airports. For the most part, large commercial aircraft stay on their runway, and smaller operators and private pilots stay on a different runway, taxiway, etc.
The airport doesn't get a ton of traffic. Just a few score commercial flights per day, and a seasonally variable number of smaller operators and private pilots. There is a control tower, so it's reasonable to assume that any misplaced people driving their car on the runway will be spotted by the tower operator, if an aircraft is preparing to take off or land. This isn't to understate the potential danger. I can imagine someone in a rush to get their plane, speeding across the runway before anyone spots them, resulting in a collision or other mishap.
I hope this helps. The pictures in the article are pretty good, but don't explain the two different sides of the airport.
PS: If you are in Fairbanks, and need to take an interstate commercial flight, drive along Airport Way. Just follow the signs.
You don't want to get on the airport unless youve bought the hangar there, otherwise the cops will be all over you.
This space for rent.
Are Apple Maps users really this dumb? Did you get a clue the map might be in error when it directed you TOWARDS the place where the big airplanes are? What happens if the map directs you over a cliff? Will that help cleanse the world of Apple brainwashed morons?
In New Mexico, Google maps sent drivers 50 miles out of their way because it doesn't know that a road that was closed 2 years ago in a flood was re-opened shortly after that. Considering this is a main route to a National Monument, it's not just some podunk mistake. They finally fixed this last week.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
It is compared to the other roads on the island. Remember, everything is relative. It sure isn't Lakeshore Drive, but then it's not Chicago, either.
It is also the Eastern-most north-south thoroughfare; every other north-south road on that side of the island is bifurcated by the runway.
Thus, whether you like it or not, it is a main road. If it were to somehow disappear one day, many (more minor) other roads would become isolated.
To use a tree analogy: Even a very small tree tends to have a few main branches.
Kid-proof tablet..
I believe my 1-year-old comment will suffice:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3176825&cid=41612805
If any old grandma in a Buick is able to take a wrong turn and wind up driving down a runway, that airport has bigger problems than an Apple maps glitch.
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
It's an unmarked road. There's no shoulder lines. There's no center line(s). It's just blacktop.
The ONLY marking is to stop before the runway.
Just because you call it a main road doesn't mean it's a main road.
To reuse your tree analog, this is a seedling road. Not an actual tree.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Reporter: Why did you drive on the airport runway?
Driver: My iPhone said it was the fastest path to the airport
Reporter: If your phone said to drive off a cliff, would you?
Driver: Well duh, it's the fastest way to the bottom of the cliff
I think we're being a bit gullible here...
You need to get out of the city sometime, kid. There's lots about the world that you're sure you know all about, but really don't have any clue about.
Kid-proof tablet..
Sure, whatever you say.
Guess what. This is where I spent my last vacation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rawah_Wilderness
http://resourceanalysis.com/trails/trail123/tr123.html
5 days of backpack camping with my kid. 10 miles/day with a 50 lb pack.
And the roads to get you there are marked. But still aren't main roads.
So get off your high, arrogant horse.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Why? So people cannot pull up to the aircraft to load/unload stuff on the ramp? This is Alaska we are talking about. Nearly everybody gets around by plane because maintaining roads over long distances is too expensive and difficult up there.
Besides, there are PLENTY of airports in the lower 48 where you can easily drive onto the ramp and thus the runway. They are not the large commercial airport operations like ORD, DFW or ATL, but one can easily drive onto the General Aviation ramp without so much as a speed bump or gate to open. Do you think the TSA does passenger screaming for the two guys getting into the C-150 heading out to do touch and goes? Of course they don't. Neither do all airports have 8ft fences with barbed wire on top running around them. Some have literally NOTHING around them but mowed grass (if that). Check out KFFA which is at the Kill Devil Hills, Wright Brothers Memorial. You can get on that airport ramp with your car without any problem and use the 3,000 Ft runway for drag racing if you wanted. Before the Bolivar MO airport got moved, the east west runway used to double as a ball field and I routinely had to buzz the field and wait for the players to clear out so I could land when the wind was going east/west.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Guess what? You set the bar pretty low: at only 10 miles a day, you must've had lots of spare time. (I've done my share of backpacking, myself.)
Meanwhile, the road IS marked. It is named, has signs at intersections, and it is on the map (though not the particular viewpoint I linked). It is maintained with public money. It does not have paint on the shoulder, but I do not understand how a couple of white lines makes any difference to its function as a roadway.
It's not my fault that you can't read a map and glean from it the purpose of the roads there.
Kid-proof tablet..
Guess you didn't read the part where all of those trails were about 9500 ft. I doubt you've ever done backpack camping in real mountains.
Any road without a divider marking & shoulder markings isn't a main road.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Umm, this was the BBC.
Which means it was probably Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear having his usual fun when in the USA.
What if they were driving through the airport in Gibraltar?
Yeah, although the series was well on its way before then. Here's the video clip, for anyone who hasn't seen it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIakZtDmMgo
I think GP is getting at the inherent discrepancy between the Gate Gestapo (AKA TSA) and a completely unsecured runway. If we're worried about mules carrying guns, knives, etc. onboard a plane, why aren't we concerned about guys driving up and throwing a sticky bomb into the wheel well and blowing up the plane with no operative casualties at all? Seems like an even better proposition than suicide bombs from their angle, and if we're going to pretend we're concerned about nail clippers, we should probably see that the whole system isn't subverted by some guy having his wife drive up and give him the contraband just before boarding. Once the word gets out it will be an endless plague of circumvention, like how everybody knows where to get the latest Gaga album for free download online. Not that I agree with the lengths we go to to keep scary-looking metal objects off of planes, but if we're going to have rules there is something to be said for consistent enforcement.
Goddammit just when I get my first +5 the Beta rolls out and kills everything
Because you said so.
Kid-proof tablet..
What if this had been a "self-driven" car, like Google wants us to use?
Ooops.
Hundreds dead due to map error. Film at 11.
Naw, never will happen. Google cars use Google Maps and Google Maps knows the difference between roads and runways. Apple Maps was probably confused because of of the taxi way. Siri probably thought if taxis can go there, so can cars.
ps. It was a self-driven car. I think Google is pushing driverless cars.
Because common sense.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
And I was getting at 'dumb question gets dumb answer'.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
I guess Google's recommended track was just too long...:-)
Because your common sense is worth more than my common sense.
Kid-proof tablet..
Apple Maps lacks the capacity to send anyone anywhere. What happened is that it made a stupid recommendation, as computers are apt to do, and as most people know computers are apt to do. And a small fraction of stupid/negligent/careless/malicious people blindly followed the recommendation, apparently unable to read signs or use common sense about whether or not to drive on runways.
If the airport people had been smart, then instead of putting up barriers (well, actually, maybe that's a good idea anyway, stupid maps or not) and "complaining to" Apple, they would have made fun of Apple and got an airport cop to profitably ticket all the stupid people who think it's ok to drive on airport runways.
The more I think of it, what we have here, is a way to mechanically catch the very worst/stupidest/most_negligent_and_dangerous drivers on the road. Cities ought to be making deals with Apple and Google to route morons into places where they'll prove to courts that they are incompetent drivers, and then we can have them removed from traffic, or at least their points will reflect the higher risks they pose and maybe their insurance rates will become more in line with the risks they choose, so everyone else can pay a little less. Everyone wins. I'm not sure it would even be entrapment, because most jurors would realize that the driver was stupid and negligent even before the city paid for the joke directions.
"R2D2, you know better than to trust a strange computer."
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
Here in the UK the Ordnance Survey continue to show a bridleway (path for horses) crossing Blackbushe Airport in Hampshire. It's been like that for decades.
You've nicely illustrated that either (a) it's not a problem to have people driving on the taxiways and runways or (b) it is a problem, and there should be a fence.
My home town has an airport. We used to ride our bikes on the runway all the time, because it had no cars and was long, straight and cool. The local flying club or the odd oil exec flying in didn't care: they buzzed the runway routinely before landing to make sure there wasn't anybody (or any cows) on it.
The nearest commercial airport (in a city smaller than Fairbanks) had a fence, mostly because airline pilots dislike buzzing the field before their approach. It wasn't much of a fence, but if you had a plane there you had to get the combination for the lock on the gate from whoever was in charge of that kind of thing. You couldn't drive through it casually though.
More interesting to walk it.
Self-driven cars can use OCR to read the signs that humans ignore.
This space intentionally left blank
Another crack pot case.
This is what happens if you leave your phone in Airplane Mode...
KateKarnage - Goth, Geek, Not all there......
what would a driver-less car will do when it follows such maps!
"Heads I Win. Tails You Lose" --Apple
Casteism