Flight plan intent alert system and method

An apparatus for determining flight path alerts, comprising:

• a processor coupled to the input module wherein the processor receives flight performance data and generates the maximum allowable horizontal and vertical deviations from the intended flight path;
• a database coupled to the processor, the database including terrain information said information inclusive of terrain information for locations along one or more flight paths;
• a memory coupled to the processor, the memory including flight plan information, wherein the flight plan information corresponds to one of the one or more flight paths;
• a module connected to the processor for receiving flight information and wherein the flight plan information includes information generated based on the flight information;
• and
• an output device coupled to the processor, the output device providing an alert upon the occurrence of a specified condition and comprises a display wherein the processor receives the terrain information and generates a flight path display of the intended flight path, and wherein the processor processes the flight information, the terrain information and the flight plan information and generates the alert upon the occurrence of the specified condition.

An apparatus for determining flight path alerts, comprising:

• a processor coupled to the input module;
• a database coupled to the processor, the database including terrain information said information inclusive of terrain information for locations along one or more flight paths;
• a memory coupled to the processor, the memory including flight plan information, wherein the flight plan information corresponds to one of the one or more flight paths;
• a module connected to the processor for receiving flight information and wherein the flight plan information includes information generated based on the flight information;
• and
• an output device coupled to the processor, the output device providing an alert upon the occurrence of a specified condition and comprises a display wherein the processor receives the terrain information and generates a flight path display of the intended flight path, and wherein the processor processes the flight information, the terrain information and the flight plan information and generates the alert upon the occurrence of the specified condition wherein the flight path display further comprises a display of terrain between way points.

An apparatus for determining flight path alerts, comprising:

• a processor coupled to the input module;
• a database coupled to the processor, the database including terrain information said information inclusive of terrain information for locations along one or more flight paths;
• a memory coupled to the processor, the memory including flight plan information, wherein the flight plan information corresponds to one of the one or more flight paths;
• a module connected to the processor for receiving flight information and wherein the flight plan information includes information generated based on the flight information;
• and
• an output device coupled to the processor, the output device providing an alert upon the occurrence of a specified condition and comprises a display wherein the processor receives the terrain information and generates a flight path display of the intended flight path, and wherein the processor processes the flight information, the terrain information and the flight plan information and generates the alert upon the occurrence of the specified condition wherein the flight path display is one of a side view of the flight path and the terrain, a top view of the flight path and the terrain and a perspective view of the flight plan and the terrain.

A method of generating flight path intent alerts for an aircraft flight plan comprising the steps of:

• receiving way point location data for at least two way points, the way point data comprising data representative of the location of the way point and altitude data associated with the way point;
• determining a position of at least one intermediate location between the at least two way points;
• retrieving terrain altitude data representative of a terrain altitude associated with the location of each of the at least two way points and the at least one intermediate location;
• determining an aircraft altitude data value for said at least one intermediate location;
• comparing the aircraft altitude data value for the at least two way points and the intermediate location with the corresponding retrieved terrain altitude data;
• and
• issuing an alert if the aircraft altitude data associated with any of the at least two way points and the intermediate location is indicative of an altitude that is less than the terrain altitude data value for such location.

A method for issuing alerts for aircraft maintaining a flight plan, comprising:

• receiving flight plan information, wherein the flight plan includes one or more legs, each of the one or more legs defined by two way points;
• receiving terrain data for geographic locations along the flight plan, wherein the geographic locations include the way points;
• determining flight plan information data, wherein the flight plan data comprises aircraft altitude;
• in a processor, comparing the flight plan data to the terrain data;
• and
• issuing an alert when the comparison indicates the occurrence of a specific event, wherein the specific event comprises an aircraft altitude below an altitude based on the terrain data.

An apparatus that generates alerts related to an aircraft flight plan, comprising:

• an input that receives flight information;
• a database that stores terrain information related to the aircraft flight plan, wherein the terrain data includes terrain altitude data;
• and
• a processor that processes the flight information to generate a flight plan for comparison with the terrain information, wherein the flight plan includes one or more legs, each of the one or more legs defined by at least two way points, wherein a way point includes one or more of a fixed geographical location and a current location of the aircraft, and wherein the processor further compares the processed flight information to the terrain information to determine the occurrence of a specified event, and generates an alert upon the occurrence of the specified event.

A method of generating flight path intent alerts for an aircraft flight plan, comprising:

• receiving geographic data related to an aircraft flight plan;
• receiving terrain altitude data representative of a terrain altitude associated with two or more points in the aircraft flight plan;
• determining an aircraft geographic location and an aircraft altitude data value corresponding to the aircraft geographic location;
• comparing the aircraft altitude data value for the at least the two or more points with the corresponding retrieved terrain altitude data;
• and
• issuing an alert if the aircraft altitude data associated with any of the at least two or more points indicates an altitude that is less than the terrain altitude data value for the aircraft geographic location.

An apparatus for determining flight plan alerts, wherein a flight plan includes one or more legs, each leg extending between a way point and a successive way point comprising:

• a processor coupled to the input module;
• a database coupled to the processor, the database including terrain information said information inclusive of terrain information for locations along said flight plan;
• a memory coupled to the processor, the memory including flight plan information, wherein the flight plan information corresponds to one of the one or more legs of the flight plan;
• and
• an output device coupled to the processor, the output device providing an alert upon the occurrence of a specified condition, wherein the processor processes the flight information, the terrain information and the flight plan information and generates the alert upon the occurrence of the specified condition.

A method of generating flight plan alerts for an aircraft flight plan comprising the steps of:

• receiving way point location data for at least two way points, the way point data comprising data representative of the location of the way point and altitude data associated with the way point;
• determining a position of at least one intermediate location between the at least two way points;
• retrieving terrain altitude data representative of a terrain altitude associated with the location of each of the at least two way points and the at least one intermediate location;
• determining a flight plan altitude data value for said at least one intermediate location;
• comparing the flight plan altitude data value for the at least two way points and the intermediate location with the corresponding retrieved terrain altitude data;
• and
• issuing an alert if the flight plan altitude data associated with any of the at least two way points and the intermediate location is indicative of an altitude that is less than the sum of a vertical tolerance and the terrain altitude data value for such location.