Patent ID: 11897596
Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 7:
8. A method, comprising:
determining, by executing one or more non-transitory machine-readable instructions with one or more processors of a control system of an aircraft, whether the aircraft is experiencing an excess energy steep descent (EESD) condition, the EESD condition corresponding to a flight path angle that meets or exceeds an angular threshold when engines of the aircraft are operating at idle thrust, wherein the angular threshold varies based on a speed of the aircraft; and
in response to determining that the aircraft is experiencing the EESD condition, commanding, by executing one or more non-transitory machine-readable instructions with the one or more processors, an actuator of the aircraft coupled to a flap of the aircraft to extend the flap from a current flap position to a subsequent flap position defined by a flap extension sequence.