Detecting a fuel jettison event
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsOmid B. Nakhjavani, Mark A. Mazarek, Changzhou Wang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed herein is a method that comprises detecting that a rate of decrease in fuel quantity for an aircraft exceeds a previously-determined baseline rate of decrease in fuel quantity for the aircraft by a threshold rate during a corresponding segment of flight of the aircraft. The method also comprises determining that a fuel jettison setting for the aircraft is enabled in response to the detected increase in the rate of decrease in fuel quantity. The method further comprises determining that an angle of one or more flaps of the aircraft satisfies a threshold angle. The method additionally comprises generating an alert indicating possible fuel contamination of the one or more flaps due to jettisoned fuel.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- detecting that a rate of decrease in fuel quantity for an aircraft exceeds a previously-determined baseline rate of decrease in fuel quantity for the aircraft by a threshold rate during a corresponding segment of flight of the aircraft;
- determining that a fuel jettison setting for the aircraft is enabled in response to a detected increase in the rate of decrease in fuel quantity;
- determining that an angle of one or more flaps of the aircraft satisfies a threshold angle;
- and
- generating an alert indicating possible fuel contamination of the one or more flaps due to jettisoned fuel.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- a memory that stores code executable by the processor to:
- detect that a rate of decrease in fuel quantity for an aircraft exceeds a previously-determined baseline rate of decrease in fuel quantity for the aircraft by a threshold rate during a corresponding segment of flight of the aircraft;
- determine that a fuel jettison setting for the aircraft is enabled in response to a detected increase in the rate of decrease in fuel quantity;
- determine that an angle of one or more flaps of the aircraft satisfies a threshold angle;
- and
- generate an alert indicating possible fuel contamination of the one or more flaps due to jettisoned fuel.
A program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium that stores code executable by a processor, the executable code comprising code to:
- detect that a rate of decrease in fuel quantity for an aircraft exceeds a previously-determined baseline rate of decrease in fuel quantity for the aircraft by a threshold rate during a corresponding segment of flight of the aircraft;
- determine that a fuel jettison setting for the aircraft is enabled in response to a detected increase in the rate of decrease in fuel quantity;
- determine that an angle of one or more flaps of the aircraft satisfies a threshold angle;
- and
- generate an alert indicating possible fuel contamination of the one or more flaps due to jettisoned fuel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.