PA-34 Seneca Undifferentiated
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 60; Flight Crew Total 13000; Flight Crew Type 40
Distraction; Human-Machine Interface; Situational Awareness
Airspace Violation All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Human Factors
I'm embarrassed to say I lost a bit of situational/positional awareness while working with a student. While my student was practicing various maneuvers; I was monitoring our position using ForeFlight on an iPad instead of using a paper chart. The device had started to glitch and I rebooted it and set it aside for a few moments. When I was able to relaunch the app; I did....except I never noticed this before; but the rings depicting Class B can be of various 'intensity' on the map view while using this iPad application. Some rings were lighter than others and the ring of CLE Class B airspace that we were closest to; escaped my attention. It has been nearly two decades since I have worked with students in this area; so my once second-nature knowledge of the area was rustier than I realized. At the altitude we were at; we may have inadvertently entered the edge of the CLE Class B without a clearance...or come close to it. The device froze again and I set it aside. As soon as I noticed the possibility of an infringement; I immediately had the student point the airplane in a direction that would continue to keep us clear. I normally ask for radar services as an extra measure of protection against collisions and airspace incursions; and I will go back to my policy of doing so. I will also make sure to use other sources of info to help keep us clear of Class B (like the raw DME distances of each of the Class B rings; besides relying on the iPad's pretty picture. And I will be sure to make sure to carry a paper chart as a backup; even VFR).
PA-34 Instructor reported potentially entering the edge of Bravo airspace without a clearance during training with student.