A faulty app caused American Airlines to ground dozens of its jets on Tuesday.
The glitch caused iPad software, used by the planes' pilots and co-pilots to view flight plans, to stop working.
The firm's cockpits went 'paperless' in 2013 to save its staff having to lug heavy paperwork on board. AA estimated the move would save it more than $1.2m (£422,770) in fuel every year.
The company said that it was still investigating the cause of the problem.
'Some American Airlines flights experienced an issue with a software application on pilot iPads yesterday evening,' a spokesman told the BBC.
'In some cases, the flight had to return to the gate to access a wi-fi connection to fix the issue.
'We apologise for the inconvenience to our customers and we had them on the way to their destinations soon afterwards.'
Serge Gojkovich, chief executive of car parking app-maker Curbstand, was among the passengers affected.
He tweeted that his San Francisco-to-Los Angeles flight was only able to get airborne after the crew had printed off the maps they needed..