Patent ID: 8190308

Claim:
A method for automatically and repetitively detecting a risk of collision of an aircraft with surrounding terrain, comprising: a) taking into account a profile of terrain located in front of the aircraft; b) determining effective values of particular flight parameters; c) determining, from the effective values, an avoidance path comprising at least a pull-out part and a constant slope part having a non-zero slope and projecting said determined avoidance path in front of the aircraft; d) checking if said determined avoidance path is compatible with said profile of the terrain at least over a predetermined distance in front of the aircraft; and e) if an incompatibility is detected in step d), transmitting a corresponding warning signal, wherein: step c) comprises: calculating, using the effective values of at least one of said particular flight parameters, a height variation of the aircraft which is due to a transfer of energy and a total slope variation generated by a speed reduction during an avoidance maneuver, said height variation indicating a height difference between an initial avoidance path and said determined avoidance path; and determining the determined avoidance path, using the height variation, which substantially follows the initial actual avoidance path and which comprises, between the pull-out part and the constant slope part, an intermediate part which takes account of the height variation such that the determined avoidance path accounts for a dynamic increase in the altitude from the end of the pull-out part to a beginning of the constant slope part, which is vertically shifted upwards by the height variation; and step d) comprises: checking whether the determined avoidance path is compatible with said profile of the terrain over said predetermined distance in front of the aircraft.