System and method for flight plan data capture

• US 20060259234A1
• Filed: 05/12/2006
• Published: 11/16/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: OAG Aviation Worldwide LLC
• Original Assignee: Flightview Incorporated
• Inventors: Flynn, Mary, Steinberg, James, Flynn, Lorraine
• Granted Patent: US 7,966,122 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/202
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0034 Assembly of a flight plan

Abstract

A system and method for providing to a user a candidate list of flight plans that specify one or more planned routes of flight from one location to another location, such routes satisfying certain criteria. These criteria include ranking the candidate list of flight plans according to the probability that the flight plan may be allowed or cleared by a controlling authority based on historic cleared flight plans; further qualifying this list by considering only candidate flight plans cleared during specified weather conditions; or specified time periods; or requested speed and/or altitude and/or aircraft type of flight parameters. Various embodiments include providing the candidate list of flight plans to the user by means of a communication system that is composed of a combination of a wide-area network, a wireless network or the internet. Additionally, an embodiment includes providing the flight plan data to a global positioning system (GPS) of a user.

Claims

1. A method for providing, to a user, flight plan data for an air trip of interest from a first location to a second location, the method comprising:

extracting and storing flight plan data from live air traffic data collected over a period of a plurality of days, the flight plan data stored in a flight plan data base, accessible by a starting location and an ending location and including at least one of as-filed, as-cleared and as-flown flight plans, wherein at least one of time data and weather data pertinent to flight plan data in the flight plan database is also stored therein;

accessing and abstracting, from the flight plan data base, flight plan data pertinent to the trip of interest; and

providing the abstracted flight plan data to the user.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein both time data and weather data pertinent to flight plan data in the flight plan database are stored therein.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein time data pertinent to flight plan data in the flight plan database is stored therein.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein weather data pertinent to flight plan data in the flight plan database is stored therein.

5. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

associating at least one of anticipated weather conditions and scheduled time of day for the air trip of interest and using such association in accessing flight plan data from the flight plan data base.

6. A method according to claim 2, further comprising:

associating both anticipated weather conditions and scheduled time of day for the air trip of interest and using such association in accessing flight plan data from the flight plan data base.

7. A method according to claim 3, further comprising:

associating scheduled time of day for the air trip of interest and using such association in accessing flight plan data from the flight plan data base.

8. A method according to claim 4, further comprising:

associating anticipated weather conditions for the air trip of interest and using such association in accessing flight plan data from the flight plan data base.

9. A method according to claim 5, wherein providing the abstracted flight plan data to the user includes using a wireless communications network.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the wireless communications network is in communication with a wide area network and receives the abstracted flight plan data over the wide area network.

11. A method according to claim 5, wherein providing the abstracted flight plan data to the user includes communicating such data over a wide area network.

12. A method according to claim 11, wherein the wide area network is the internet.

13. A method according to claim 10, wherein the wide area network is the internet.

14. A method according to claim 9, wherein the wireless communications network includes a data link in a mobile telephone system and providing the abstracted flight plan data to the user includes providing such data to a wireless transceiver of the user that is in communication with the wireless communications network.

15. A method according to claim 1, wherein the flight plan data pertinent to the trip of interest relates to a plurality of accessed routes, the method further comprising:

ranking each of the accessed routes according to an estimated probability that such route would be selected as part of a cleared flight plan for the trip of interest, and providing, to the user, information based on such ranking.

16. A method according to claim 15, further comprising:

associating at least one of anticipated weather conditions and scheduled time of day for the air trip of interest and using such association in ranking each of the accessed routes.

17. A method according to claim 15, further comprising:

associating both anticipated weather conditions and scheduled time of day for the air trip of interest and using such association in ranking each of the accessed routes.

18. A method according to claim 15, further comprising:

associating scheduled time of day for the air trip of interest and using such association in ranking each of the accessed routes.

19. A method according to claim 15, further comprising:

associating anticipated weather conditions for the air trip of interest and using such association in ranking each of the accessed routes.

20. A method according to claim 15, further comprising:

associating aircraft type for the air trip of interest and using such association in ranking each of the accessed routes.

21. A method according to claim 15, further comprising:

associating at least one of altitude, speed information, and time en route, for the trip of interest and using such association in ranking each of the accessed routes.

22. A method according to claim 15, wherein providing the abstracted flight plan data to the user includes doing so before the user has obtained regulatory clearance to make the trip of interest and to facilitate proposing by the user of a route that is likely to obtain such clearance.

23. A method for providing, to a user, flight plan data for an air trip, for which the flight has not begun, from a first location to a second location, the method comprising:

extracting flight plan data, from live air traffic data, pertinent to the trip; and

providing flight plan data, derived from the extracted data, over a data link in a mobile telephone system to a wireless transceiver of a user, wherein the wireless transceiver of the user is in communication with a GPS system of the user, such GPS system being updatable with the routed flight plan data.

24. A method for providing, to a user, flight plan data for an air trip of interest from a first location to a second location, the method comprising:

extracting and storing flight plan data from live air traffic data collected over a period of a plurality of days, the flight plan data stored in a flight plan data base, accessible by a starting location and an ending location and including at least one of as-filed, as-cleared and as-flown flight plans;

accessing, from the flight plan data base, a plurality of routes pertinent to the trip of interest; and

ranking each of the accessed routes according to an estimated probability that such route would be selected as part of a cleared flight plan for the trip of interest, and providing, to the user, information based on such ranking.

25. A method according to claim 24, wherein providing to the user information based on such ranking includes doing so before the user has obtained regulatory clearance to make the trip of interest and to facilitate proposing by the user of a route that is likely to obtain such clearance.

26. A method according to claim 24, wherein ranking each of the accessed routes includes considering time of day of the trip of interest in relation to time of day associated with each of the accessed routes.

27. A method according to claim 26, wherein ranking each of the accessed routes also includes considering day of the week of the trip of interest, and presence of any holiday on such day, in relation to day of the week, and presence of any holiday on such day, associated with each of the accessed routes.

28. A method according to claim 26, wherein ranking each of the accessed routes includes considering weather conditions expected for the trip of interest in relation to the weather conditions associated with each of the accessed routes.

29. A method according to claim 24, wherein ranking each of the accessed routes includes considering aircraft type associated with the trip of interest in relation to aircraft type associated with each of the accessed routes.

30. A method according to claim 24, wherein providing information based on such ranking to the user includes using a wireless communications network.

32. A method according to claim 24, wherein providing information based on such ranking to the user includes communicating such information over a wide area network.

34. A method according to claim 32, wherein the wide are network is the internet.

35. A method according to claim 30, wherein the wireless communications network includes a data link in a mobile telephone system and providing such information to the user includes providing such information to a wireless transceiver of the user that is in communication with the wireless communications network.

31. A method according to claim 31, wherein the wireless communications network is in communication with a wide area network and receives the abstracted flight plan data over the wide area network.

33. A method according to claim 31, wherein the wide area network is the internet.