Other reports say the APP quit, not the iPad. Let's look at the rest of the "updated report" from MacNN:
"Update: An American Airlines representative has clarified what actually happened in a statement obtained by MacNN. The issues, which centered around the Jeppeson Mobile Terminal Chart app, was caused by an update pushed automatically to pilots' iPads that had an updated runway map for a specific airport -- Ronald Reagan Washington National -- that caused a conflict with existing versions of the app, causing the iPad to crash. "[The issue] was not a system-wide or a fleet-type problem," said spokesperson Casey Norton. The problem occurred only when pilots "accessed a particular map. SOURCE
Company IT departments have special app channels for doing that for proprietary iPads. I do it for the iPads under my control. Also apps on iPads operate in sandboxes. This article is one of the early ones. The later articles I read stated the App quit repeatedly on trying to load the route the pilots were to fly when it attempted to load the charts. I think the App shut down, not the iPad. Having an App cause a full kernel crash on a UNIX system is very hard to accomplish. I've never seen one. iPads issued to pilots come from the Airlines and any software on them are controlled by the company IT department. Any "pushing" done would come from them, not Apple.
Curious isn't it. A carefully worded statement by a corporation or multiple live reports of people who were actually there.
I guess they ALL heard the pilots wrong then. Yeah that is it.
hahahah