Method and apparatus for predicting runway overrun

Abstract

A critical point on a runway indicates a point at which an aircraft may experience a runway overrun if landing beyond the critical point. A path projection is extended from the aircraft at a descent slope angle to determine whether the aircraft will land beyond the critical point at the current descent slope. Timely alerts may be provided by accounting for the time required to announce a distance value, and the distance traveled during the announcement.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims priority to the provisional application assigned attorney docket number 21035-00026, U.S. Application Ser. No. 60 / 448,906, filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Feb. 24, 2003, and entitled “RUNWAY OVERRUN MONITOR AND METHOD FOR MONITORING RUNWAY OVERRUNS.”BACKGROUND [0002] 1. Technical Field [0003] The invention relates to aircraft safety equipment and more particularly to an apparatus and method for increasing flight crew situational awareness during landing. [0004] 2. Related Art [0005] Landing is one of the most demanding tasks in flying. During the landing process, the aircraft must be brought to a safe and complete stop. To perform the landing properly, the aircraft must approach the runway within certain attitude, track, speed, and rate of descent limits. An approach outside of these limits can result in a “hard” landing, overrunning the runway end, or otherwise contacting the runway surface in an uncontrol...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The patent describes a method for providing information to an aircraft during landing to help prevent accidents. The method involves determining a critical point on the runway where the aircraft needs to stop to prevent overrun. If the aircraft passes beyond this point, an alert is sent. The method also involves determining information about the aircraft's status during landing, adjusting the message based on the aircraft's speed, and announcing the message. This allows for timely alerts to prevent accidents. Overall, the method helps improve safety during aircraft landing."

Problems solved by technology

An approach outside of these limits can result in a “hard” landing, overrunning the runway end, or otherwise contacting the runway surface in an uncontrolled manner.

Any one of these events has the potential to cause severe damage to the aircraft and may additionally result in passenger injuries or fatalities.

Landing too fast and landing too far down a runway may contribute to runway overrun accidents.

If the pilot's vision is the sole source of data used to determine whether a go-around or aborted takeoff is necessary, then variations in visual acuity, distractions or poor visibility may reduce the quality of the data used in the pilot's decision.

In addition, a pilot may fly for years without experiencing a runway overrun, and the pilot may be slow to recognize a problem during landing.

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