IF YOU USE AN ELECTRONIC FLIGHT BAG in the cockpit-and these days who doesn't?-you probably have considered what would happen if your iPad's battery died, or if the device overheated. But what if your panel went dark and you lost all navigation information? Could you fly an emergency approach in instrument meteorological conditions, using just your iPad for guidance? Consider the following situation. As you approach your destination of Huron, South Dakota, after a routine departure and a comfortable cruise in IMC, most of your panel abruptly goes dark. You still have basic flight instruments, including an electronic primary flight display and a horizontal situation indicator, which run on back-up batteries. Your last communications with ATC included a clearance to an initial approach fix and "expect the ILS Runway 12 approach." But your GPS navigator, which includes navigation receivers, is now kaput, along with your second nav/com. In other words, you have no moving map or course guidance in the panel-just attitude,airspeed, altitude, and heading. You can't even see a GPS track indicator.
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