In recent years, other planes have crashed with numbing regularity. But this one captured the attention of the world for a simple reason: the Concorde, with its supersonic abilities and sleek design, has always been a celebrity of the skies. Its enduring allure, even after so many years, is the reason the final moments of Flight 4590 were captured on film from several angles–no other plane gets such attention from amateur paparazzi. The footage and pictures seemed to offer a running start to the crash investigation. Officials ruled out sabotage early on, but there remained far more questions than answers about the cause in the days following the accident. At the end of the week, investigators zeroed in on the possibility that one or more blown tires from the left side of the plane might have caused the fire that engulfed the jet. Tire pieces were found on the runway, leading to speculation that other tire or wheel fragments might have been sucked into the jet’s engines or blasted through the wing, damaging fuel systems and hydraulic lines. The Concorde has had problems with blown tires before–in one 1979 incident at Dulles International Airport, tire and wheel debris damaged a Concorde’s engine, punctured its fuel tanks, and severed hydraulic and electrical lines–and if it is found to be the cause of this crash, aviation officials may require significant changes to the remaining 12 Concordes in the Air France and British Airways fleets. Late last week Goodyear, which makes the Concorde’s tires, was asked to help in the investigation.
And there are indications the calamity might have been averted. NEWSWEEK has learned that investigators are examining scorch marks on the runway and nearby grass that suggest that the fire was burning while the plane was still on the ground, well before it reached takeoff speed. Some investigators are also questioning whether air-traffic controllers could have given the pilot an earlier warning, allowing him to abort the flight. U.S. officials told NEWSWEEK that they are skeptical of British Airways’ decision to quickly resume Concorde flights before the cause of the crash had been determined. That may take weeks or months–a troublesome delay for an aircraft that has won a loyal following among the rich and famous for its ability to cheat time.
But Flight 4590 had time problems from the start. When it was finally cleared for takeoff, the chartered Concorde–carrying 96 Germans, two Danes, an Austrian and an American to a luxury cruise ship waiting in New York–was more than an hour behind schedule, delayed by the passengers’ bags and a last-minute repair. The pilot, Capt. Christian Marty, 54, was an adventurous type–he had windsurfed across the Atlantic 20 years ago and was an avid mountain biker. But that afternoon he took the precautionary step of ordering a last-minute repair on a “thrust reverser’’ that helps brake the plane. It wasn’t a fix required by the rulebook, but it would make for a smoother landing in New York. The passengers and nine crew members waited while mechanics found and installed the new part. Then the SST rolled out to the runway. Fifty-six seconds after controllers cleared the plane for takeoff, the tower radioed an urgent warning: the aircraft’s rear was spouting fire. Marty and his copilot, Jean Marcot, sent a terse reply–“Engine No. 2 is down.” It was too late to abort the flight. They had passed “V1,’’ the term pilots use for the speed at which they can no longer abort a takeoff, and the pilots immediately reported that they couldn’t retract the landing gear. But rather than lifting sharply skyward, the plane strained to defy gravity, a sight eerily captured on amateur videotape. The plane then banked into the small wood-frame motel. “It did not dive,’’ said Willy Corenthin, an electrician driving near the airport at the time. “It dropped straight down.’’ The plane and motel erupted in flames that shot 300 feet in the air. Five people inside the family-owned Hotelissimo, as it was named, were killed. After a gutsy escape, one guest, 21-year-old British student Alice Brookings, got away with only minor injuries. The plane had crashed on the side of the motel away from her room. She opened the door to a wall of flames, then leaped out her window. “I was very, very lucky,’’ she was quoted as saying.
The crash of 4590 may hasten the close of a chapter in aviation history that once seemed so promising. After all, the Concorde’s economics are fragile–it is hellishly expensive to operate because of its rigorous maintenance schedule and its thirsty engines (it uses the same amount of fuel as a 747 to make the transatlantic trip). A small decrease in the legions of faithful Concorde fliers who pony up the $8,500 round-trip fare could also make flying the plane unprofitable for Air France and British Airways. There are still many hard-core Concorde fans. “When I first got on the Concorde, it was like a dream–you get on and then you’re there,’’ says rapper Dr. Dre, who has flown more than a dozen trips on the plane. “I’d still get on a Concorde in a minute before I do the regular plane thing.” But other frequent Concorde fliers have been scared off. Designer Karl Lagerfeld says, “I would never ever take it again.”
Even before last week’s tragedy, Air France and British Airways said the Concorde would likely reach the end of its useful life in a decade or so. And there’s no supersonic successor waiting in the wings. The leading edge in commercial aviation these days is bigger, not faster, aircraft. Airbus recently said it would invest roughly $12 billion to develop a double-decker superjumbo called the A3XX that will make the Boeing 747 look like its kid brother. Besides, developing the next-generation SST would take at least $20 billion to overcome the many technological, noise and environmental challenges of commercial SST travel–an extravagant investment given the limited demand for the costly flights.
The Concorde, and supersonic travel for the masses, have always been built on hopes and dreams. It is, after all, a remarkable achievement to build a commercial jet that can slice through the air at 1,350 miles an hour at an altitude of 11 miles–high enough to offer a glimpse of the Earth’s curvature. And last week many people were trying to keep the dream alive. “Supersonic technology is still the technology of the future,’’ Jean-Claude Gayssot, the French Transport minister, insisted. But that seemed like wishful thinking, an echo of the wish that Air France Flight 4590 could have managed to stay aloft just long enough to land at Le Bourget.
