System and method for notifications relating to flight tracking or planning

• US 8,296,281 B2
• Filed: 01/26/2009
• Issued: 10/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Flightaware LLC (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Original Assignee: Flightaware LLC (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Inventors: Baker, Daniel, Lehenbauer, Karl, McNett, David Cameron
• Primary Examiner(s): Jami, Hares
• Application Number:
  US12/359,829
• Publication Number:
  US 20100191754A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,366 Days
• Field of Search: 707/705, 707/706, 707/722, 707/736, 707/790, 701/3
• US Class Current: 707/706
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Abstract

A computer-implemented system and method processes flight position information and provides a notification to a remote user in response to a triggering event. Typically, flight position data is received over a digital network. The service accepts requests for notification based upon the position of a specified flight and subsequently provides that notification based upon the flight position data. Upon receiving a user query, a server retrieves a result set from the flight position data and determines if the triggering criteria has been met. In one form, the requested notification may be presented to the user in the form of an e-mail, telephone call, text message or the like. Also disclosed is a system for flight tracking or planning which includes photographs supplied by remote users of the aircraft for which the tracking or planning is associated, for use by other remote users that see the association of the supplied photos with the tracked or planned flight. Still further disclosed is a social system for use with flight tracking or planning which allows affiliated users to share information to the exclusion of other non-affiliated users.

Claims

1. A method facilitating the combination of user-contributed individual aircraft images to data about the proximate arrival or departure of that aircraft comprising:

obtaining electronic data including a first aircraft tail number from recent FAA filed flight plan data as to an aircraft arriving to or leaving from a user specified airport;

querying, by using said first aircraft tail number without user re-entry, an electronic database containing aircraft images contributed through an automated, user-accessible system, to select an image of the actual aircraft that is associated with such aircraft tail number; and

displaying the image of the actual aircraft which aircraft has an associated tail number matching the tail number in the query along with recent FAA filed flight plan data.

2. A method for providing user-contributed individual aircraft images in association with provided flight tracking information, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a plurality of digital images of individual aircraft from a plurality of remote users;

storing said plurality of images within an electronic database, wherein each image within said plurality is associated with an aircraft tail number;

receiving a request from a remote user for flight tracking data;

selecting from said electronic database a digital image of the actual aircraft assigned the tail number of an aircraft where the aircraft is included in the flight tracking data; and

transmitting said selected digital image and the requested flight tracking data to said remote user over said digital network to enable the remote user to display the digital image.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said receiving of images is over the Internet.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein said receiving of a request is over the Internet.