A320
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem
Aircraft
As has happened several times since I have been using our EFB; the Jepp program became unusable in flight. This has occurred when Jepp released a half-baked update that caused failures and required patches to be subsequently released. This failure; however; was unique in that it did not involve any major update; and it involved BOTH of our EFBs at the same time. We had both updated our program in the crew room; and shortly after takeoff; my FO's program started to get real slow. Then; as we prepared to brief the STAR and approach; both of our programs locked up and failed to function after numerous attempts to restart the program and reboot the EFB. It was IMC in LAX; but because my FO had a personal copy of Fore Flight; which is authorized to be used; we did not have to request a written description of the Star and approach (which is a joke and would probably yield a result which resembled not the STAR and approach; but a dog's breakfast) or divert. I think; and I'll bet the Department of Transportation would think; it is ridiculous that we do not have company-provided backup for the Jepp software in the form of ForeFlight or some other program. To make pilots have to bear the cost of a ForeFlight subscription if they want to operate a flight with a backup for the Jepp program which has proven to be less than robust; or choose not to and be placed in a less-than-safe scenario such as I found myself; is immoral; unjust; and flies in the face of any assertion that safety is their priority. I can't believe the FAA actually signed off on the practice to only back up the EFBs with a program we have to buy; or a written description sent by dispatch. Can you imagine texting dispatch for another approach because you went missed approach in IMC due to windshear and had to use another approach which the controller is already vectoring you from? Wouldn't happen for real; but it works on paper.Provide us with Foreflight for free.
A320 Captain reported continuing problems with the reliability of their EFBs and recommended the company provide flight crews with a retail navigation program as a backup.