Apple's iOS 6 just came out this week but the new Apple maps app is already facing some problems. The app mistakenly designates a farm in Dublin, Ireland as an airport, which could cause a lot of confusion.
Dublin's airport is located on the north side of the country and is six miles outside of the city. However the new iOS 6 map app says that the airport is on a farm in Dundrum which is three miles south of Dublin. The farm area, called Airfield is a 35-acre estate that includes a functional farm, gardens and a café. It is a popular place, but it isn't an airport. Yet the app places an aircraft image above this area.
Minister for Justice Alan Shatter notified Apple of their error, saying that the mistake can cause confusion and he's worried that pilots may think that they can actually land there.
"I know on occasion mistakes can be made and I am surprised to discover that Airfield, which is in the centre of my constituency in Dundrum, has, in Apple's new operating system iOS6 maps application, been designated with the image of an aircraft," Shatter said, according to the BBC.
Shatter's response seems a bit tongue-in-cheek.
"In the context of Airfield there are a variety of possible alternative images that could be utilised, such as a cow, a goat, a sheep, a flower or indeed any other type of plant, as Airfield operates a nursery," Shatter's statement said. "An aircraft is an entirely inappropriate flight of imagination."
Yet he does bring up a potentially serious case.
"Clearly the designation is not only wrong but is dangerously misleading in that it could result in a pilot, unfamiliar with the area, in an emergency situation and without other available information, attempting a landing," Shatter continues.
The issue was first spotted Twitter user Aleesha Tully (@aleeshajulia). She took to Twitter to point in out in a photo of the map with the message , "Not only did #Apple give us #iOS6 . . . They also gave us a new airport off the Upper Kilmacud Road! Yay! pic.twitter.com/auN9u3kh."
Dublin Airport later attempted to clarify the mistake. They tweeted: "Just in case anybody is confused, Dublin Airport is not moving to the southside. #mapfail."
Paul Cullen, director of safety and technical with the Irish Airline Pilots Association (Ialpa) said that Shatter's claims about planes landing in the farm is a bit silly.
"If it was a real emergency in a small aircraft you would be looking for a landing strip and you wouldn't have time to take your phone out to look for an airport," he said. Pilots tend to look at navigational equipment," Cullen told the Irish Times.
The airport mishap wasn't the only mistake that the map app made for Ireland. It also designates the city's zoo as Temple Bar in the city center which is full of nightlife. The zoo is actually in Phoenix Park which is to the west of Dublin.
Apple users have taken to social media to report the mistakes. As the program is new, Apple is working to improve the system which was created by using data from TomTom and other companies.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
