flight path

American  

noun

1. the trajectory of a moving aircraft or spacecraft relative to a fixed reference.

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flight path British  

noun

1. the course through the air of an aircraft, rocket, or projectile Compare approach glide path

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Etymology

Origin of flight path

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

Artemis 2 astronaut Jeremy Hansen felt like he was "falling out of the sky" as his spacecraft followed its complex flight path to the Moon, the Canadian said in a Saturday video call.

From Barron's • Apr. 4, 2026

The pop-star-to-film-star flight path often ends in a crash.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2026

Along the shortest flight path between Moscow and Washington, D.C.—an arc known as the great-circle distance—Greenland sits midway.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

Starship’s upper stage reached the highest planned point in its flight path, but it went into a spin on the way down, blowing up over the Indian Ocean.

From Salon • Jan. 12, 2026

He soared up and scared an eagle out of its flight path, then plummeted toward the sea like he was born to fly, pulling out of a nosedive at the last second.

From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan