- If you‘ve had a similar occurrence or experienced an aviation safety hazard you’d like to share, provide a comment below.
A Mooney M20 pilot in the United States recently reported that a tablet computer interfered with the aircraft’s compass, resulting in the aircraft being 15 degrees off its assigned heading.
The pilot was flying on instruments in cloud and being radar vectored when an air traffic controller advised the crew they were 15 degrees off their assigned heading. The pilot revised the heading indicator to reflect the 15 degree variation and the aircraft landed safely.
An investigation revealed the interference was caused by a tablet computer which was placed on the glare shield during the flight. The tablet computer has magnets inside which have been known to cause up to 30 degrees interference when placed in close proximity to the compass.
The pilot reported the incident to the Aviation Self Reporting Scheme (ASRS) in the United States.
If you‘ve had a similar occurrence or experienced an aviation safety hazard you’d like to share, provide a comment.