Patent ID: 8078350

Claim:
An autonomous flight method for aircraft characterized, for an onboard automation having taken command of the flight controls with a view to a rerouting, comprising the steps of: formulating a proposal for flight plan modifications to be performed autonomously for the rerouting, from a diversion waypoint marking a position reached in the flight plan currently in progress after an arbitrary period reserved for negotiation with an air traffic control authority in the region overflown, automatically negotiating by telecommunication the proposal for flight plan modifications with the control authority, when the flight plan modifications are not returned by the control authority in the negotiation period, implementing autonomously the proposal for flight plan modifications, when the flight plan modifications are returned by the control authority if the flight plan modifications returned are identical to the proposal for flight plan modifications, implementing them autonomously, if the flight plan modifications returned differ from the proposal for flight plan modifications, analyzing their consistency as regards the rules defining an onboard strategy, if the flight plan modifications returned are consistent with the rules defining the onboard strategy, implementing them autonomously in place of the proposal for flight plan modifications, if the flight plan modifications returned exhibit inconsistencies with respect to the rules defining the onboard strategy, making a new proposal for flight plan modifications which take into account the elements of the flight plan modifications returned which satisfy the rules defining the onboard strategy, and undertaking a new negotiation, as soon as the negotiation period has elapsed, implementing autonomously the latest, proposal made onboard for flight plan modifications.