Concorde will regain licence to fly this week
By David Harrison, Transport Correspondent
(Filed: 26/08/2001)
CONCORDE will be given a licence to fly this week, paving the way for the resumption of commercial flights to New York next month, The Telegraph can reveal.
The Civil Aviation Authority will announce on Tuesday that it is satisfied with modifications that have been made to the supersonic jet since last year's crash near Paris, according to senior British Airways officials.
The officials, who have been working with the regulator and Concorde's manufacturers to improve safety, said the "certificates of air worthiness" would be restored to BA and Air France.
One BA executive said: "The regaining of the certificate is a tribute to the tremendous efforts of everybody involved."
Concorde cannot fly without the certificate, which was withdrawn following the Air France Concorde crash after take-off from Charles de Gaulle 13 months ago. The jet hit a hotel in the town of Gonesse, killing all 109 passengers and crew and four people on the ground.
The disaster happened when a sharp metal object on the Tarmac burst a tyre. A fuel tank was hit by the debris and ruptured and the jet burst into flames.
Since the crash, both airlines have made extensive modifications to their supersonic fleet to avoid any possibility of a repetition. BA has spent £17 million on the changes which include tougher tyres and fuel tank linings and a strengthened undercarriage.
In the past five weeks, the airline has carried out a series of successful test flights on the modified jets, and pilots and cabin crew are undergoing refresher training courses.
Flights to New York are expected to begin "within weeks", with the Barbados route reopening by Christmas.
The modification programme will continue until all of BA's seven and Air France's five Concordes have been changed and tested and awarded airworthiness certificates.
BA said Concorde had performed well in test flights out to the Atlantic and one to New York where it touched down at JFK airport before flying back. The supersonic jet carried a capacity 100 passengers, all of them BA staff chosen in a ballot.
A spokesman for the CAA confirmed last night that a statement about Concorde's certificate would be made on Tuesday but declined to say whether the authority would approve the changes.