Accuracy check methodology for an air data probe system

A system onboard an aircraft having a flight control system that supports fly-by-wire operation, the system comprising:

• an air data probe coupled to structure of the aircraft such that at least one inlet of the air data probe is exposed to an environment outside the aircraft, the air data probe configured to provide air data;
• a sensor system onboard the aircraft and configured to provide sensor data;
• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one processor-readable medium associated with the at least one processor, the at least one processor-readable medium storing processor-executable instructions configurable to be executed by the at least one processor to perform a method of checking accuracy of the air data probe, the method comprising:
• calculating airspeed measurements from the air data provided by the air data probe;
• calculating vehicle speed measurements based on the sensor data provided by the sensor system, wherein the vehicle speed measurements are distinct and independent of the airspeed measurements, and the vehicle speed measurements are calculated without using the air data;
• comparing a calculated airspeed measurement against a calculated vehicle speed measurement to obtain a speed difference, wherein the calculated airspeed measurement and the calculated vehicle speed measurement correspond to a measurement time during which the aircraft is moving forward;
• and
• initiating at least one corrective action onboard the aircraft when magnitude of the speed difference exceeds a threshold value, wherein the at least one corrective action comprises activating an alternate fly-by-wire mode of the flight control system.

At least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having executable instructions stored thereon, the instructions configurable to cause at least one processor to perform a method of checking accuracy of an air data probe system onboard an aircraft, the method comprising:

• calculating airspeed measurements from air data provided by the air data probe system;
• calculating vehicle speed measurements based on sensor data collected from at least one sensor system onboard the aircraft, wherein the vehicle speed measurements are distinct and independent of the airspeed measurements, and the vehicle speed measurements are calculated without using the air data;
• comparing a calculated airspeed measurement against a calculated vehicle speed measurement to obtain a speed difference, wherein the calculated airspeed measurement and the calculated vehicle speed measurement correspond to a measurement time during which the aircraft is moving forward, and wherein the comparing is performed by at least one computer-implemented system onboard the aircraft;
• and
• initiating at least one corrective action onboard the aircraft when magnitude of the speed difference exceeds a threshold value, wherein the at least one corrective action comprises activating an alternate fly-by-wire mode of the flight control system.