Patent ID: 7212135

Claim:
A method of monitoring real time performance of an aircraft, the method comprising: providing aircraft flight parameter values FP(t n ) at a sequence {(t n )} n of one or more measurement times during an approach to touchdown along a planned approach path PP; receiving one or more flight path modification parameters, which can be implemented along the present aircraft approach path to produce a modified approach path MP; implementing the one or more flight path modification parameter at a selected location to follow the modified path and providing at least one estimated FP value FP(t n ;MP) for the aircraft along the modified approach path; providing FP values FP(t′ n ;PP) for a planned flight path that the aircraft would have continued to follow along the planned approach path, where t′ n is a projected measurement time corresponding to, or determined with reference to, the measurement time t n along the modified approach path; and displaying, in at least one of a graphical format and an alphanumeric format, a comparison of FP(t n ;MP) and FP(t′ n ;PP).