Noise-Minimum Runway-Independent Aircraft Approach Design for Baltimore–Washington International Airport

Vertical or short takeoff and landing aircraft can increase passenger throughput at major urban airports via the use of vertiports or stub runways. The concept of simultaneous noninterfering operations has been proposed to reduce traffic delays by creating approach and departure corridors that do not intersect existing fixed-wing routes. This paper introduces an optimization technique for segmented three-dimensional simultaneous noninterfering trajectory design based on an incremental search strategy that combines a k-ary tree with Dijkstra’s algorithm. Existing fixed-wing traffic corridors are modeled as impenetrable obstacles. The objective function is based on a validated AH-1 rotorcraft noise model as well as terminal area population density data. Flight envelope limits are represented as search-space constraints. Candidate final approach trajectories for Baltimore–Washington International (BWI) Airport are presented, illustrating the effects of population density, entry region, and varied number of trajectory segments on the optimal result. The modeling and optimization technique presented in this paper will provide airport and airspace designers with a host of alterative trajectory options for analysis of potential landing sites, associated traffic procedures, and entry options, as shown by the presented BWI case study.