US Patent 9473367 Aircraft monitoring with improved situational awareness

Devices, methods and systems are provided for monitoring an aircraft. One exemplary method involves a processing system at a ground location obtaining first information associated with a first region identified by a detection system onboard the aircraft, obtaining second information associated with a second region identified by an external system coupled to the processing system, and displaying a flight tracking image associated with the aircraft that includes a first graphical representation of the first region and a second graphical representation of the second region. The method continues by capturing at least a portion of the flight tracking image displayed on a display device at the ground location and transmitting the captured flight tracking image to the aircraft for subsequent presentation on an onboard display device.