Composite Vertical Profile Display for Emergency Glide Diversion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pilots face increased mental workload and stress when diverting from a flight plan due to the need to manually integrate multiple information sources, such as weather and terrain data, during emergency situations like engine failure, which can lead to pilot error.
Innovation Solution
A composite vertical profile display system that provides a graphical representation of the aircraft's gliding trajectory and multiple potential landing locations, allowing pilots to quickly assess vertical situations and select optimal diversion destinations by displaying airports at respective altitudes and distances, independent of the aircraft's heading, and dynamically updates to include terrain information upon selection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If pilots manually integrate multiple information sources (weather radar, terrain, obstacles, NOTAMs, SIGMETs, PIREPs) from different displays, then comprehensive situational awareness is achieved, but mental workload and stress increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple information sources (weather radar, terrain, obstacles, NOTAMs, SIGMETs, PIREPs) from different displays into a single integrated display. This consolidation allows pilots to view all critical information simultaneously on one screen, eliminating the need to mentally piece together data from multiple separate sources and significantly reducing cognitive workload during emergency situations.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated display system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it displays weather radar information, terrain data, obstacle locations, NOTAMs, SIGMETs, and PIREPs all in one universal interface. This multi-functional display replaces the need for multiple specialized displays, allowing pilots to access comprehensive situational awareness through a single system while reducing the complexity of information integration.
2Reliability
If pilots analyze multiple variables (fuel remaining, distance, weather, terrain, obstacles) to select optimal landing locations, then safe diversion decisions are made, but time required to identify diversion destination increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculations and displays of multiple potential landing locations with their associated variables (fuel remaining, distance, weather conditions, terrain, obstacles) before the pilot needs to make a decision. By pre-processing and presenting all relevant information for multiple candidate locations simultaneously, the system eliminates the time-consuming process of manually analyzing each variable for each potential destination, allowing pilots to quickly identify the optimal diversion location.
Solution Approach 2:
The display segments information for multiple potential landing locations into distinct, organized sections, each showing relevant variables (fuel, distance, weather, terrain, obstacles). This segmentation allows pilots to efficiently compare multiple destinations side-by-side without being overwhelmed by a single large dataset, enabling rapid identification of the safest diversion location while maintaining comprehensive analysis of all critical factors.
3Ease of operation
If pilots mentally piece together information from different sources while manually flying the aircraft, then flight control and navigation are maintained, but the likelihood of pilot error increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines all necessary flight information (navigation, weather, terrain, obstacles, fuel status) into a single integrated display that is easily visible to the pilot. This consolidation reduces the cognitive load required to monitor multiple separate displays while manually flying the aircraft, allowing pilots to maintain flight control with reduced mental effort and lower risk of errors from misinterpreting or missing critical information scattered across multiple sources.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems are provided for guiding or otherwise assisting operation of an aircraft when diverting from a flight plan. One method involves determining a gliding trajectory for the aircraft based at least in part on a current altitude of the aircraft, providing a graphical representation of the gliding trajectory for the aircraft, identifying a plurality of landing locations within a range defined by the gliding trajectory from the aircraft, and for each landing location of the plurality of landing locations, providing a graphical representation of a respective landing location with respect to the gliding trajectory at a respective altitude associated with the respective landing location and at a respective distance with respect to a graphical representation of the aircraft corresponding to a respective geographic distance between a current location of the aircraft and the respective landing location.