AIRCRAFT POSITION INDICATION SYSTEM FOR AIRCRAFT PASSENGERS

摘要

A system for indicating to aircraft passengers the approximate location of the aircraft. The system includes the aircraft navigation equipment (10), adapted to generate navigation signals indicative of the aircraft's position. A computer (20) receives the navigation signals and is adapted to correlate the aircraft position to a particular sector of a map (60) of the ground area to be overflown during the flight. The computer (20) generate a display signal indicative of the particular map sector. One or more visual display units (40) are mounted in the aircraft passenger compartment and are coupled to the computer. The display unit (40) provides a visual identification of the map sector then being overflown. Passengers may be provided with maps and map overlays which divide the map into predetermined sectors. By correlating the visual information to the map, the passenger may determine the approximate location of the aircraft, and hence identify visible landmarks, follow the aircraft's movement and so on. The computer may also control an audio message unit (50), coupled to the aircraft audio system (55) and adapted to issue predetermined audio messages in dependence upon the particular map sector being overflown.