Patent ID: 8108088

Claim:
A method of automatically guiding separation of a follow aircraft from a lead aircraft, the method comprising the steps of: a) determining first guidance instructions based on speed that enables a desired separation between the lead and follow aircraft; b) determining second guidance instructions based on speed for performing a desired landing procedure for the follow aircraft; c) monitoring current energy state of the follow aircraft to detect an incompatibility situation in which the current energy state of the follow aircraft is incompatible with execution of the desired landing procedure, and wherein the incompatibility situation is detected when horizontal distance between a current position of the follow aircraft and a threshold of a landing runway is less than a minimum approach distance which represents minimum distance for the follow aircraft to reach the threshold of the runway as it follows a descent profile of the desired approach procedure; and d) applying the first guidance instructions or the second guidance instructions to the follow aircraft, wherein: d1) said first guidance instructions are applied in an absence of detecting the incompatibility situation; and d2) said second guidance instructions are applied upon detection of the incompatibility situation and for as long as the incompatibility situation is detected.