System and method for increasing aircraft search and rescue mission effectiveness

1 . An aircraft search and rescue mission effectiveness system, comprising:

a display device responsive to display commands to render one or more images;

a searchlight assembly adapted to be mounted on an aircraft and configured to emit a light beam toward, and thus illuminate, a point of interest, the searchlight assembly further configured to supply beam data, the beam data including at least light beam orientation and distance from the searchlight assembly to the point of interest; and

a searchlight processing system coupled to receive aircraft data that includes at least aircraft location and aircraft attitude, the searchlight processing system in operable communication with the display device and the searchlight assembly and configured to:

(i) process the aircraft data and the beam data to generate and supply geographic coordinate data for the point of interest,

(ii) command the display device to render an image that includes at least a graphical representation of the point of interest and the geographic coordinate data for the point of interest,

(iii) receive a first user input command from a user interface device,

(iv) in response to receiving the first user input command, transmit the geographic coordinate data to one or more aircraft avionics systems,

(v) store the geographic data associated with a plurality of points of interest,

(vi) in response to receiving a second user input command from the user interface, to retrieve the geographic data associated with the plurality of points of interest,

(vii) in response to receiving a third user input command from the user interface, to generate a defined search area geometry around the geographic data associated with the plurality of points of interest, and

(viii) command the display device to render an image that includes the defined search area geometry and the geographic data associated with the plurality of points of interest.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the searchlight processing system is further configured, in response to receiving the user input command, to identify the point of interest as an aircraft landing area.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the searchlight processing system is further configured to:

store the geographic data associated with a plurality of points of interest; and

in response to receiving a second user input command from the user interface, to generate at least one runway using the geographic data associated with the plurality of points of interest.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more avionics systems comprise:

a terrain database; and

a flight management system.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the searchlight processing system is further configured to at least selectively transmit the geographic coordinate data to another aircraft.

6 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the searchlight processing system is further configured to at least selectively transmit the geographic coordinate data to a ground station.

7 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the searchlight processing system is further configured to at least selectively transmit the geographic coordinate data to a remote data storage facility.

8 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a camera disposed adjacent to the searchlight assembly to capture images of the illuminated point of interest and supply image data representative of the captured images to the searchlight processing system,

wherein the searchlight processing system is further configured to process the image data and command the display device to render the captured images.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the search light assembly is further configured to supply the aircraft data that includes at least the aircraft location and the aircraft attitude.

10 . An aircraft search and rescue mission effectiveness method, comprising the steps of:

supplying beam data from a searchlight assembly that is adapted to be mounted on an aircraft and that is configured to emit a light beam toward, and thus illuminate, a point of interest, the beam data including at least light beam orientation and distance from the searchlight assembly to the point of interest;

processing, in a searchlight processing system, the beam data and aircraft data that includes at least aircraft location and aircraft attitude to generate and supply geographic coordinate data for the point of interest;

commanding, via the searchlight processing system, a display device to render an image that includes at least a graphical representation of the point of interest and the geographic coordinate data for the point of interest;

receiving, at the searchlight processing system, a user input command from a user interface device;

transmitting, via the searchlight processing system, the geographic coordinate data to one or more aircraft avionics systems in response to receiving the user input command;

storing the geographic data associated with a plurality of points of interest;

retrieving, in response to receiving a second user input command from the user interface, the geographic data associated with the plurality of points of interest;

generating, in response to receiving a third user input command from the user interface, a defined search area geometry around the geographic data associated with the plurality of points of interest; and

commanding the display device to render an image that includes the defined search area geometry and the geographic data associated with the plurality of points of interest.

11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

identifying the point of interest, via the searchlight processing system, as an aircraft landing area in response to receiving the user input command.

12 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

storing the geographic data associated with a plurality of points of interest; and

generating, in response to receiving a second user input command from the user interface, at least one runway using the geographic data associated with the plurality of points of interest.

13 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising selectively transmitting the geographic coordinate data to another aircraft.

14 . The system of claim 10 , further comprising selectively transmitting the geographic coordinate data to a ground station.

15 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising selectively transmitting the geographic coordinate data to a remote data storage facility.

16 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

capturing images of the illuminated point of interest via a camera that is disposed adjacent to the searchlight assembly;

supplying image data representative of the captured images from the camera to the searchlight processing system;

processing the image data in the searchlight processing system; and

commanding the display device, via the searchlight processing system, to render the captured images.

17 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the aircraft data that includes at least the aircraft location and the aircraft attitude are supplied from the search light assembly.

18 . An aircraft, comprising:

a fuselage;

a display device disposed within the fuselage and responsive to display commands to render one or more images;

a searchlight assembly mounted on the fuselage and configured to emit a light beam toward, and thus illuminate, a point of interest, the searchlight assembly further configured to supply beam data, the beam data including at least light beam orientation and distance from the searchlight assembly to the point of interest;

a searchlight processing system coupled to receive aircraft data that includes at least aircraft location and aircraft attitude, the searchlight processing system in operable communication with the display device and the searchlight assembly and configured to:

(i) process the aircraft data and the beam data to generate and supply geographic coordinate data for the point of interest,

(ii) command the display device to render an image that includes at least a graphical representation of the point of interest and the geographic coordinate data for the point of interest,

(iii) receive a user input command from a user interface device,

(iv) in response to receiving the user input command, transmit the geographic coordinate data to one or more aircraft avionics systems,

(v) store the geographic data associated with a plurality of points of interest,

(vi) in response to receiving a second user input command from the user interface, to retrieve the geographic data associated with the plurality of points of interest,

(vii) in response to receiving a third user input command from the user interface, to generate a defined search area geometry around the geographic data associated with the plurality of points of interest, and

(viii) command the display device to render an image that includes the defined search area geometry and the geographic data associated with the plurality of points of interest.