Flight navigation sequencing system and method

摘要

A flight management system and method is provided that determines segment sequencing during entry into holding patterns and the holding patterns themselves. The flight management system and method monitors the aircraft's progress along the active segment of the flight plan to determine what is the appropriate next segment and when to switch control from the active segment to the next segment. The flight management system can determine the appropriate next segment for the aircraft based on a variety of factors. These factors including aircraft position relative to a wayline, the existence of any cross track error, and whether or not the projected aircraft track will intersect an active segment. Preferably, the flight management system evaluates the aircraft state parameters at each wayline crossing to determine which segment is appropriate to control to next. If none of the segments are appropriate, then the control is defaulted to a default segment.