Capt John Hutchinson, a retired Concorde captain of very high repute, has just been interviewed on BBC TV. He restated the possible contributory causes in a very clear and precise manner, echoing the doubts concerning the incorrect undercarriage repair, the fact that the aircraft did not use all its taxi fuel and was, as a consequence, 1.2 tonnes over its MTOW; he also confirmed that the 090/08 kt wind passed with the take-off clearance meant that the aircraft was 4.5 tonnes over RTOW.
Another factor to emerge, probably non-contributory, was that the FO's medical had expired, hence his licence was invalid, hence the aircraft was being operated without a fully-qualified crew and hence not in accordance with its certification.
[ 06 September 2001: Message edited by: BEagle ]