- Title: FRANCE: AIR FRANCE CONCORDE AIRCRAFT LANDS SAFELY AFTER TEST FLIGHT
- Date: 19th January 2001
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (18 JANUARY 2001) (REUTERS) 1. SLV PEOPLE WITH SIGN 'WE LOVE YOU CONCORDE'; CONCORDGE IN BACKGROUND; SLV EMERGENCY VEHICLES (3 SHOTS) 0.09 2. SLV AIR FRANCE CONCORDE TAKING OFF; AV AIR FRANCE CONCORDE IN THE AIR 0.37 ISTRES, SOUTHERN FRANCE (18 JANUARY 2001) (REUTERS) 4. SLV AIR FRANCE CONCORDE LANDING AT ISTRES; CLOSEUP FUEL TANKS; SLV CAPTAIN DISEMBARKING AIR FRANCE CONCORDE (9 SHOTS) 3.06 GONESSE, FRANCE (FILE) (REUTERS) 5. AV/SLV CRASH SITE WITH AIR FRANCE CONCORDE DEBRIS AND FIREMEN (5 SHOTS) 3.29 GONESSE, FRANCE (18 JANUARY 2001) (REUTERS) 6. (SOUNDBITE) (French) UNNAMED RESIDENT SAYING "The noise is very loud. Where I live the planes fly really low, and if Concorde starts flying over there too, it will be worse. Concorde's noise is louder then the others." 3.45 7. SLV SITE WHERE AIR FRANCE CONCORDE CRASHED; SLV TRAFFIC ON STREETS (3 SHOTS) 3.56 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 3rd February 2001 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PARIS AND GONESSE, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA30GL4GAU929HVMXA8VAJM9CFF
- Story Text: An Air France Concorde has landed safely after being
flown from Paris to a military base for testing. It is only
the second time an Air France Concorde has flown since July's
devastating crash outside Paris which killed 113 people.
The aircraft was in the air on Thursday (January 18)
for less than an hour -- flying with only crew on board --
from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport to an air force base at
Istres near Marseilles in southern France - although capable
of supersonic speeds, on this flight it remained subsonic.
In Istres it will undergo two weeks of rigorous testing,
with engineers simulating fuel leaks on the underside of one
of the aircraft's wings.
Concorde's fuel tanks are now lined with kevlar, the
material used in bullet-proof vests, to stop them being
ruptured by debris on runways - the cause of last July's
crash.
Air France has flown only one other Concorde since the
July crash, bringing the plane to Charles de Gaulle airport
from New York with no passengers aboard.
It is hoped that a British Airways Concorde will be able
to undergo test flights within 8-10 weeks, allowing both
British and French Concorde fleets to be back in passenger
service by the spring.
Concorde flight AF4590 crashed in flames into the
Hotelissimo hotel in the town of Gonesse north of Paris on 25
July last year killing all 100 passengers and nine crew on
board. Four people on the ground also died as parts of the
hotel were reduced to rubble.
A detailed investigation into the crash identified that
a piece of metal on the runway caused one of the plane's tyres
to burst sending pieces of rubber into the fuel tank which
caused it to implode. But it is still not clear why the
aircraft lost so much fuel so quickly.
Air France grounded all of its five remaining Concordes
immediately after the disaster.
British Airways resumed Concorde flights shortly after
the crash but suspended them again in mid-August over fears
about the safety of tyres.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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