Patent ID: 7916042

Claim:
A method for predicting a stopping position of an aircraft during an approach phase while the aircraft is at a current height and descending towards a runway following a current approach path at a current approach speed, said aircraft passing, with a reference speed, through a reference approach position disposed at a reference height above a proximal threshold of said runway so that a reference stopping position on the runway is distant from said proximal threshold by a reference distance that can be determined by calculations of the aircraft's performance, the method comprising: when said current height of said aircraft is greater than said reference height, calculating, using a computing device on board the aircraft, a variation of total energy of said aircraft between a point of said current approach path which has the current height and a particular point of said current approach path which has the reference height and through which said aircraft passes at the reference speed; determining, using said computing device, from said variation of the total energy, the horizontal position of said particular point; and adding, using said computing device, said reference distance to said horizontal position of said particular point.