Shock wave appears to have caused deadly Concorde crash

According to the report by the Office of Accident Investigation (BEA), as the supersonic jet sped down the runway at the Charles de Gaulle airport, it rolled over a metal strip that had fallen from a Continental Airlines DC-10, bursting a tyre.

The tyre debris, the report continued, appears to have provoked "a shock wave in the kerosene" which ruptured the fuel tank from the inside.

The Concorde burst into flames just before take-off and, less than two minutes later, slammed into a nearby hotel and exploded, killing everyone aboard and four people on the ground.

The BEA report added that a similar scenario involving an Air France or British Airways Concorde had occurred on six previous occasions, without leading to a catastrophe, however.

Air France and British Airways are the only two carriers to fly the supersonic. Since the Concorde was put in service in 1976, its tyres have burst or deflated 57 times, the report added.

The 12 remaining Concordes have been grounded since August 16, when British and French aviation authorities suspended the plane's certificate of airworthiness.

A bilateral working group, composed of aviation authorities, experts and manufacturers from France and England, is striving to implement safety measures to have the Concorde flying again by summer.

(news.ch)