Determining Landing Sites for Aircraft

• US 20110264312A1
• Filed: 04/21/2010
• Published: 10/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Bruce, Alan Eugene, Offer, Bradley William, Cuspard, Steven Furman, Lusardi, Robert, Spinelli, Charles B.
• Granted Patent: US 9,520,066 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/16
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0039 Modification of a flight plan
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0056 in an emergency situation, e.g. hijacking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/02 Automatic approach or landing aids, i.e. systems in which flight data of incoming planes are processed to provide landing data landing aids fitted in or to aircraft B64D45/04; visual or acoustic landing aids B64F1/18

Abstract

A routing tool is disclosed. The routing tool is configured to determine a landing site for an aircraft by receiving flight data. The routing tool identifies at least one landing site proximate to a flight path and generates a spanning tree between the landing site and the flight path. According to some embodiments, the landing sites are determined in real-time during flight. Additionally, the landing sites may be determined at the aircraft or at a remote system or device in communication with the aircraft. In some embodiments, the routing tool generates one or more spanning trees before flight. The spanning trees may be based upon a flight plan, and may be stored in a data storage device. Methods and computer readable media are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method for determining a landing site for an aircraft, the method comprising:

receiving flight data corresponding to a flight path;

identifying at least one landing site proximate to the flight path;

generating a spanning tree between the at least one landing site and the flight path; and

storing the spanning tree in a data storage device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the flight data comprises receiving the flight data at a routing tool associated with the aircraft during planning of a flight.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the flight data comprise receiving the flight data at a routing tool associated with the aircraft during a flight.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the flight data comprises receiving the flight data at an off-board routing tool associated with an air traffic control system before a flight is commenced.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

detecting an emergency condition during a flight of the aircraft,

in response to detecting the emergency, transmitting data to the air traffic control system indicating occurrence of the emergency; and

receiving the spanning tree from the air traffic control system.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the flight data comprises receiving the flight data at an off-board routing tool associated with an air traffic control system during a flight.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting an emergency condition during a flight of the aircraft.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

in response to detecting the emergency, retrieving the spanning tree from the data storage device; and

passing the spanning tree to a display system of the aircraft.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

displaying the spanning tree; and

receiving a selection of a displayed landing site associated with the spanning tree.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising displaying a countdown timer with the spanning tree, the countdown timer indicating an amount of time for which the landing site may be selected.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

obtaining real-time weather data for the landing site, wherein the real-time weather data is evaluated before selecting the landing site.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising displaying a vertical profile view of a glide path for ingress to the selected landing site.

17. The routing tool of claim 11, wherein the spanning trees are generated in real-time, in response to detecting an emergency during a flight of the aircraft.

13. A routing tool for determining a landing site for an aircraft, the routing tool comprising a database configured to store flight data corresponding to a flight path for the aircraft, and a routing module configured to:

receive the flight data;

identify at least one landing site proximate to the flight path;

generate a spanning tree between the at least one landing site and the flight path; and

store the spanning tree in a data storage device.

14. The routing tool of claim 13, wherein the routing tool comprises a component of the aircraft.

15. The routing tool of claim 13, wherein the routing tool comprises a component of an air traffic control system.

16. The routing tool of claim 13, wherein the spanning trees are generated before a flight is commenced

18. The routing tool of claim 13, further comprising a performance learning system for generating an aircraft performance model, wherein the aircraft performance model is used to generate the spanning tree.

19. A computer readable storage medium having computer executable instructions stored thereon, the execution of which by a processor cause a routing tool to:

receive flight data corresponding to a flight path;

identify at least one landing site proximate to the flight path;

generate a spanning tree between the at least one landing site and the flight path;

store the spanning tree in a data storage device;

detect an emergency at the aircraft during a flight of the aircraft; and

in response to detecting the emergency, display the spanning tree for selection of a landing site.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, further comprising computer executable instructions, the execution of which make the routing tool further operative to:

transmit data indicating the emergency on board the aircraft, the data being transmitted to an air traffic control system; and

receive instructions for selecting the landing site from the air traffic control system.