20 Years Without Concorde

It’s October 24th, 2003, and Captain Mike Bannister is lining up on the runway at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport, ready for Concorde’s last ever commercial flight, bound for London Heathrow. The cabin is full of celebrities, Concorde enthusiasts, and wealthy individuals, including Jeremy Clarkson, ballerina Darcey Bussell, and an Ohio couple who reportedly paid $60,000 for a pair of tickets, all taking this last opportunity to experience commercial supersonic travel. How did this technological marvel which became an icon of human engineering, speed and luxury, get to this point?

Rewind 23 years to the 25th of July, 2000. During a takeoff from Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport, an Air France Concorde ran over a small metal panel on the runway which had been deposited by the previous departing aircraft. This caused one of the tyres to burst, sending fragments in all directions. One of them impacted the underside of Concorde's delta wing, causing it to rupture, and fuel to leak out. An electrical spark in the wheel well ignited the fuel, creating large trailing flames which were sucked into two of the engines. For various reasons, the aircraft wasn’t able to maintain its height, eventually crashing into a hotel, and killing all 109 passengers on board as well as 4 people on the ground. As a mark of respect, British Airways cancelled its evening flight to New York that day, alongside its return the following morning.

All Concordes at both British Airways and Air France were immediately grounded, it remaining that way for almost a full calendar year whilst engineers designed a series of modifications to deal with the elements that caused the chain of events that led to the fatal crash. These modifications included NZG (non-zero growth) tyres being fitted to prevent disintegration, lining the fuel tanks with Kevlar to prevent them being penetrated and ruptured, as well as the insulation of the electrics in the wheel well to prevent the risk of sparking causing a fire.

As if Concorde’s luck couldn’t get any worse, its first operational assessment flight was on the morning of the 11th September 2001, with a cabin full of British Airways staff who discovered on landing of the now infamous terrorist attack was underway in New York. This event had a huge impact on the aviation industry, the subsequent drop in demand for air travel constituting the final nail in the coffin for Concorde’s life as a commercial airliner.

Concorde eventually returned to commercial service on the November 7th, 2001, with British Airways continued to operate their scheduled service to New York and Barbados until October 24th, 2003.

Back to Captain Bannister and his crew, as they took off eastbound on Concorde G-BOAG climbing up for her last time to go supersonic. On arrival into London Heathrow, they were joined by two other British Airways Concordes -- one had flown to the Bay of Biscay, and the other was a flight from Edinburgh. In an impressive and nostalgic piece of choreography, all three landed one after the other in front of a large crowd of spectators, journalists, and television stations.

This really was the end of an era, with modern aircraft designed to fly slower and more efficiently, reducing fuel burn.

But, where does the future lie for supersonic travel? In August 2020, Virgin Galactic announced that it was partnering with engine manufacturer Rolls Royce to develop a supersonic passenger aircraft capable of travelling at three times the speed of sound. A U.S. start-up called Boom Supersonic is similarly developing a supersonic transatlantic aircraft with test flights due to start in 2026, with United Airlines and American Airlines already announcing plans to buy 15 and 20 of them respectively.

Stay tuned for Part II & the opportunity to get your hands on our Concorde themed prize later this week.