With the proliferation of electronic flight bag (EFB) software running on tablets in our cockpits, it’s often easy to forget that some of the data we download every 28 days may not be correct. In fact, the charts, approach plates and airport information we use—to name just three categories—can easily be missing important material or simply include errors.
Mistakes that creep into FAA charts often are the subject of Flight Data Center (FDC) Notams and are part of a full pre-flight briefing. Others are more subtle and come about when electronic charting services run by Jeppesen and Garmin, for two examples, screw up. Often, the charting error involves an overseas airport you’ll never reach in your Skyhawk, but sometimes they’re close to home. Unless you diligently seek information on mistakes from your database provider, you may never know of the problem.
