Aircraft flight deck displays and systems and methods for displaying integrated minimum safe altitude and minimum vectoring altitude information on a display device in an aircraft

A system for displaying integrated minimum vectoring and safe altitude information on a display device in the aircraft, the system comprising:

• a display device;
• a data storage device containing a database with minimum vectoring altitude information and minimum safe altitude information;
• a display processor in operable communication with the display device and coupled to the data storage device to receive the minimum vectoring altitude information and the minimum safe altitude information and configured, in response thereto to:
• generate a graphical representation of a safe altitude sector;
• generate a graphical representation of a vectoring altitude sector;
• generate a graphical representation of the aircraft within at least one of the following:
• the graphical representation of the safe altitude sector to indicate a current location of the aircraft and the minimum safe altitude value associated therewith;
• and
• the graphical representation of the vectoring altitude sector to indicate the current location of the aircraft and the minimum vectoring altitude value associated therewith, wherein the graphical representation of the safe altitude sector comprises a MSA image of the safe altitude sector and the graphical representation of the vectoring altitude sector comprises a MVA image of the vectoring altitude sector.

An aircraft flight display device having rendered thereon a graphical display of a navigational map associated with a current location of an aircraft, the graphical display comprising:

• a MSA image of a safe altitude sector overlying the navigational map that corresponds to a first geographic area having a minimum safe altitude value;
• a MVA image of a vectoring altitude sector that corresponds to a second geographic area having a minimum vectoring altitude value, a portion of the safe altitude sector overlapping a portion of the vectoring altitude sector if there is a common geographic region in the first and second geographic areas, the overlapping portions corresponding to the common geographic region;
• and
• an aircraft image within at least one of the graphical display of the safe altitude sector or the vectoring altitude sector overlying the navigational map, the aircraft image being positioned such that its position corresponds to the current location of the aircraft, wherein:
• the MSA image of the safe altitude sector is displayed with a first visually distinguishing characteristic if the aircraft is determined to be at risk of descending below the designated minimum safe altitude level for the safe altitude sector in which the aircraft is currently located;
• the MVA image of the vectoring altitude sector to which the aircraft is heading is displayed with a second visually distinguishing characteristic to indicate that the aircraft is below the designated minimum safe altitude for the safe altitude sector in which the aircraft is currently located and the aircraft is determined to be at risk of descending below the designated minimum vectoring altitude level for the vectoring altitude sector to which the aircraft is heading;
• and
• the MVA image of the vectoring altitude sector in which the aircraft is currently located is displayed using a third visually distinguishing characteristic to indicate that the aircraft is below the designated minimum vectoring altitude level for the vectoring altitude sector in which the aircraft is currently located.