Title: STELA (Site Selection and Trajectory Generation for Emergency Landings of Commercial Aircraft)

Duration: 2019-2024

Funding scheme: University of Malta TRAKE

Funds: ca. EUR 140,000

Principal investigator: Dr Ing. Jason Gauci

Emergency landings of commercial aircraft due to total-loss-of-thrust (TLOT) are quite rare and, in these situations, pilots need to decide where to land and how to get there. In some cases, the landing site may even be an off-airport site. Current on-board automation (i.e. the FMS) provides pilots with limited support in these scenarios; thus, the objective of STELA was to develop an emergency landing site selection and trajectory generating function to specifically assist pilots in these situations. This function is expected to reduce pilot workload in emergency landing scenarios, and to increase the probability of a safe landing. This will, in turn, reduce fatalities, hull losses and property damage.