Predictive Altitude Alerting for Aircraft Descent Trajectories
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current ground proximity warning systems (GPWS) lack sufficient lead time in alerting pilots of descent below altitude events and provide limited enhanced situation awareness for flight crews, particularly in predicting premature descents below minimum sector altitude, minimum safe altitude, and terrain clearance floor.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize a Flight Management System (FMS) and Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) to predict aircraft movement trajectories, evaluate them against minimum altitudes, and output alerts via visual and aural indicators, providing greater lead time and enhanced awareness by modeling vertical descent paths and determining required vertical acceleration to avoid altitude convergence.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If traditional GPWS is used to alert pilots of descent below altitude events, then the system provides basic ground proximity warning functionality, but the lead time for alerting pilots is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary evaluation of the aircraft predicted movement trajectory against minimum altitudes before the actual descent occurs. By predicting the trajectory using FMS data and evaluating it proactively against minimum sector altitude, minimum safe altitude, and terrain clearance floor, the system generates alerts in advance, providing pilots with sufficient lead time to take corrective action while maintaining high reliability through predictive analysis.
2Loss of information
If EGPWS with TCF function is used to alert descent below terrain clearance floor, then the system provides terrain awareness, but the situation awareness for flight crew is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides enhanced feedback to the flight crew by continuously evaluating the predicted movement trajectory against multiple altitude parameters (minimum sector altitude, minimum safe altitude, terrain clearance floor) and providing comprehensive situational awareness information. This feedback mechanism delivers detailed information about potential altitude breaches and required vertical acceleration, enabling better decision-making without significantly increasing system complexity.
3Loss of time
If predictive capabilities are integrated into GPWS to evaluate aircraft trajectory, then the lead time and situation awareness are improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system achieves multi-functionality by integrating FMS (Flight Management System) and EGPWS (Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System) capabilities into a unified alerting system. The FMS provides flight plan and trajectory prediction data, while the EGPWS evaluates this data against multiple altitude parameters (minimum sector altitude, minimum safe altitude, terrain clearance floor). This universal integration improves reaction time and situation awareness without proportionally increasing complexity, as it leverages existing system functionalities.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and system for alerting descent with respect to at least one of minimum sector altitude, minimum safe altitude and terrain clearance floor in an aircraft. The methods and systems receive at least one of a minimum sector altitude value, a minimum safe altitude value and a terrain clearance floor value based on a flight plan of the aircraft or a location of the aircraft. A movement trajectory of the aircraft is predicted. The aircraft predicted movement trajectory is evaluated with respect to the at least one of the minimum sector altitude value, the minimum safe altitude value and the terrain clearance floor value. An alert is output when the evaluation predicts convergence of the aircraft predicted movement trajectory and the at least one of the minimum sector altitude value, the minimum safe altitude value and the terrain clearance floor value.