Patent ID: 8060083

Claim:
A system for providing emergency services communications onboard an aircraft, comprising: an aircraft network, located in said aircraft, for wirelessly exchanging digital communication signals with communication devices of at least one of: the aircraft crew and the occupants of said aircraft; a ground-based Access Network for concurrently exchanging digital communication signals with the airline which operates the aircraft, and at least one of: a Public Safety Access Points and a government agency; air-to-ground network for carrying said communication signals between said aircraft network and said ground-based Access Network to establish communications between said communication devices and said ground-based communications network by exchanging both subscriber traffic and at least one of network signaling and administrative data on separate concurrently available logical channels between said aircraft network and said ground-based communications network; and an emergency services communication system, responsive to origination of an emergency services call comprising the transmission of an Emergency Services access code from said communication device of at least one of the aircraft crew and an occupant of said aircraft, for concurrently interconnecting said communication device of at least one of the aircraft crew and the occupant of said aircraft with: at least two of an aircraft crew member located in said aircraft via said aircraft network, and said Public Safety Access Point, the airline which operates the aircraft, and a government agency via said aircraft network, said air-to-ground network and said ground-based Access Network; wherein said emergency services communication system further comprises: an alert generator, responsive to an operator at said Public Safety Access Point generating an emergency event alert, for forwarding said generated emergency event alert to emergency services personnel at a destination to which said aircraft is routed.