Runway Awareness Alerting System FMS Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Runway Awareness and Advisory Systems (RAAS) may generate unnecessary alerts, distracting flight crews during aircraft operations around airports, and lack contextual integration with other avionics systems, which can reduce situational awareness and increase the risk of runway incursions.
Innovation Solution
The integration of data and functionality from Flight Management Systems (FMS) with Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems (EGPWS) to provide contextually relevant alerts and advisories, using a processor to determine the correct runway and inhibit unnecessary messages based on aircraft state and planned operations, outputting alerts through a combination of aural and visual displays on an Airport Moving Map (AMM).
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If RAAS generates alerts for all runway approaches, then crew awareness of runway position is improved, but crew distraction and nuisance alerts increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the parameters of alert generation by integrating FMS data (flight plan, expected runway) with EGPWS data (actual position, picked runway) to dynamically determine when alerts should be generated. This allows the system to suppress alerts when the aircraft is on the correct runway while maintaining alerts when approaching wrong runways, thus reducing nuisance alerts while preserving safety information.
2Device complexity
If RAAS uses only EGPWS database for runway detection, then system complexity is reduced, but contextual accuracy of alerts deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges data from two separate sources: FMS (Flight Management System) which provides flight plan and expected runway information, and EGPWS (Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System) which provides actual position and picked runway information. By combining these sources, the system achieves more accurate contextual awareness of whether an approaching runway alert is necessary or if the aircraft is correctly positioned.
3Loss of information
If RAAS provides frequent advisories, then situational awareness is enhanced, but operational efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial action by selectively generating alerts only when necessary - specifically when there is a mismatch between the expected runway from FMS and the picked runway from EGPWS. By using conditional logic rather than continuous alerting, the system maintains situational awareness while minimizing disruptions to normal operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Runway awareness and advisory systems (RAAS) and methods are provided for an aircraft. A variety of alerts can be provided based on integrating FMS data with the RAAS systems.