| CPC G08G 5/55 (2025.01) [B64D 45/08 (2013.01); G08G 5/21 (2025.01); G08G 5/30 (2025.01); G08G 5/34 (2025.01); G08G 5/54 (2025.01); G08G 5/58 (2025.01); G08G 5/76 (2025.01); G08G 5/26 (2025.01)] | 30 Claims |
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1. An aircraft comprising:
a database operable to store information related to terrain;
an attitude sensor operable to detect an attitude of the aircraft;
a deviation monitor operable to assess at least one deviation in the attitude of the aircraft, wherein the deviation monitor is further operable to attempt to take corrective action where an assessed deviation has a magnitude outside of a preselected range, and wherein the corrective action is more insistent based on the magnitude of the deviation;
an emergency state monitor, wherein said emergency state monitor is operable to activate an emergency state if a user is unresponsive to one or more system alerts after the corrective action;
an alternate landing site selector, wherein after activation of an emergency state, said alternate landing site selector is operable to automatically:
create an alternate landing site (ALS) hierarchy by determining a suitability value for each of a plurality of alternate landing sites, wherein each assigned suitability value is based on weighting a plurality of factors related to that site's suitability for landing;
select an alternate landing site from the ALS hierarchy based on the determined suitability values;
create a route from a current position of the aircraft to an approach fix associated with the selected alternate landing site, the route accounting for at least terrain and obstacles;
cause the autopilot to instruct the aircraft to traverse the route;
and
cause the aircraft to land at the selected alternate landing site.
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