The final passenger flight touched down at LHR from JFK on October 24, 2003. Raw fuel was introduced into the exhaust of the planes four engines. Concorde had become financially unworkable after a high-profile crash in 2000, combined with excessive ticket prices, high fuel consumption, and increasingly high maintenance costs. A technological masterpiece built-in collaboration by France & Britain, the delta-wing Concorde, made its first flight on March 2, 1969. Supercharged: Concorde was the first - and still only - passenger aircraft that had turbojet engines with afterburners. As the plane took off, landed, and taxied, the pilots tilted its nose forward so that they could see the runway. Meanwhile, in America, the terrorist attacks that were unfolding would be the final nail in Concorde’s coffin.Īirbus announced that they would discontinue maintenance support for the type, so BA and AF had no choice but to announce Concorde’s retirement on April 10, 2003. Concorde Aircraft History: The long, strange, luxurious saga of flying faster than the speed of sound. On the morning of September 11, 2001, the first Concorde flight with passengers took to the skies for the first time after the grounding. No amount of points and miles can get you on one: the last Concorde landed for good in 2003. 50 years to the day after its first flight on March 2, 1969, Concorde is a memory the fastest passenger airplane that ever flew has been grounded since 2003. This included Kevlar lining to the wings, strengthened tires, and armor-plated wiring to ensure that an accident like this would never happen again. United Airlines announces deal with Boom Supersonic for faster-than-sound commercial flights. The aircraft was immediately grounded as engineers made modifications. G-BOAD, the Intrepids Concorde, which is on loan from British Airways, is the fastest commercial aircraft to cross the Atlantic. Things worsened for the supersonic jet when, on July 25, 2000, an AF Concorde (F-BTSC) crashed shortly after take off from Paris CDG. G-BOAF pictured at the 1980 Farnborough Air Show wearing BA’s Negus livery. The final terrifying moments of Air France flight 4590 were revealed yesterday when French accident investigators released their preliminary report on last months Concorde crash outside Paris.

Concorde airplane