Many modern aircraft receive information automatically and electronically from air traffic control (ATC). This arrangement allows air traffic controllers to communicate with the aircraft in an efficient, automated manner. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a typical ATC communication system. An ATC transmitter 60 issues an electronic signal (e.g., via a data link), which is received by an onboard aircraft receiver 61. The aircraft receiver 61 conveys the information to a communication display 10 where the flight crew can read the instructions provided by the air traffic controllers.
Instructions which are to become part of the flight plan for the aircraft are then conveyed automatically to a flight management system where they appear on a flight plan list display 51 presented at a control and display unit (CDU) 50. Other instructions, which do not become part of the overall flight plan for the aircraft follow a different route. These instructions are read by the flight crew (as shown in block 9) and then manually entered by the flight crew into the appropriate aircraft system for example, via a computer keypad. Such instructions can include a directive to change or maintain aircraft altitude, change aircraft heading or speed, tune the aircraft radios to a particular frequency, adjust the aircraft's transponder code, or calibrate the aircraft's altimeter setting. These instructions are manually input at the aircraft's mode control panel 20 (for altitude, heading or speed instructions), or at a radio tuning panel 30 (for radio frequency instructions), or at the aircraft's ATC transponder panel 40 (for transponder code settings), or at the aircraft's altimeter setting panel (for altimeter settings).
One feature of the foregoing arrangement is that the flight crew must manually re-enter a wide variety of data into a computer system after the data are automatically brought aboard the aircraft via the aircraft receiver 61. A drawback with this arrangement is that it can be cumbersome and time-consuming for the flight crew to implement. Accordingly, while the current arrangement provides a method for electronically conveying information to an aircraft, the information may not always be efficiently handled and implemented.