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Breaking the chain Returning Concorde to service following the Paris accident – July 2000

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

J. A. Jupp
Affiliation:
Airbus, Filton, UK
J. R. Britton
Affiliation:
Airbus, Filton, UK

Extract

At 14h42 UTC (3.42pm BST), on Tuesday, 25 July 2000, Concorde F-BTSC, operated by Air France, started its take-off roll on runway 26 Right at Paris Charles de Gaulle, to undertake a charter flight to New York with nine crew and 100 passengers on board. Shortly before rotation, the front right tyre of the left main landing gear ran over a strip of metal, which had fallen from another aircraft, and was damaged. Debris was thrown against the bottom wing surface leading to a rupture of tank five. A major fire, fuelled by the massive leak, broke out almost immediately under the left wing. Problems appeared shortly afterwards on engine two and for a brief period on engine one. The aircraft took off. The crew shut down engine two following an engine fire alarm. The landing gear would not retract. The aircraft flew for about one minute at a speed of 200kt and an altitude of 200ft, but was unable to gain height or speed. Engine one then lost thrust, the aircraft’s angle of attack and bank increased sharply. The thrust on engines three and four fell suddenly. The aircraft crashed onto a hotel at Gonnesse. Everyone on board and four people in the hotel were killed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2003 

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References

1. Accident on 25 July 2000 at La Patte d’Oie in Gonesse (95) to the Concorde registered F-BTSC operated by Air France. Bureau Enquetes-Accidents. Report translation f-sc000725a (Published on the Internet at http://www.bea-fr.org).Google Scholar