The First Crash

Concorde 101 Air France, F-BVFC
in 1979 While taking off from Washington two tyres on the left hand main gear caught fire. The gear could not be retracted, so the crew chose to return to Washington. Some circuitry was damaged after having been hit by debris from the tyres. Debris also caused a fuel leak.

On the 25th July 2000 a DC-10 left a little bit of metal lying on the runway after it took of from Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport. Five minutes later Concorde zoomed down the runway and its wheel was punctured by the piece of metal and part of the tyre rubber smashed in to the underside of the wing bursting one of the fuel tanks. Fuel poured out of the tank and caught fire. The Concorde was speeding at over 300km per hour and took off into the air with flames bursting out of its left wing. Inside the plane the pilot saw the fire alarm warning for Engine Number 2. He shut down the engine. Unfortunately, the fire got worse and Engine Number 1 lost power. The Concorde went out of control and crashed into a hotel. All 109 people in the plane died and 4 people in the hotel were killed by the crash.

After the crash, investigators inspected the crash scene to try to find out what had happened. The government stopped the other Concorde's from flying because they did want any more accidents. The French Transport Ministry’s Accident and Inquiry Office concluded that Concorde would not be allowed to fly again until the tyres were improved so that they would never burst. The modifications were too difficult and expensive to make.

The Second Crash

An Air France Concorde plane trying to get to New York crashed in Gonesse, France, shortly after takeoff on July 25, 2000, killing all 109 passengers and crew and four people on the ground. After the crash Concorde was given one more chance to continue its career, 3 years later.

The aircraft is heaviest when it takes off (because of the fully loaded fuel tanks). That is mainly why the Concorde crashed in Gonesse (close to Paris).

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