Patent ID: 8428795

Claim:
A method for determining the possibility of an aircraft coining to a complete stop, during landing, on a landing runway, the determination being made while said aircraft is in flight and descending towards said landing runway at an inclined approach trajectory forming an angle of approach (α) with said landing runway, said landing runway comprising two end thresholds, wherein the method comprises the steps of: a1) measuring altitude (H) of said aircraft, a2) calculating horizontal distance (D) from said aircraft to a proximal end threshold of said landing runway, wherein said horizontal distance (D) is calculated based on positioning information for said aircraft delivered by a satellite positioning system and on information delivered by a database containing positioning of said proximal end threshold of the landing runway; b) calculating an estimated finishing position of said aircraft on said landing runway based on the measured altitude (H), the calculated horizontal distance (D) and the angle of approach (α), such that the estimated finishing position is defined by a distance (X) from the proximal end threshold with X =( H /tan α)− D, wherein: H is the measured altitude of the aircraft, tan α is the tangent of the angle of approach (α), and D is the calculated horizontal distance; and c) determining the possibility of the aircraft coming to a complete stop on the landing runway according to said estimated finishing position, wherein said distance (X) is compared with a reference limit value (T), short of which said aircraft is determined to come to a complete stop on said landing runway and beyond which said aircraft is determined to not come to a complete stop on said landing runway.