Concorde Paris crash, questions, facts, opinions
We already have another Tech Log thread running on the subject of "Concorde Questions", relating Concorde facts, questions, stories, anecdotes, etc.
Rather than 'dilute' that thread with the inevitable discussions and opinions on the background of the Concorde Paris crash, it seemed appropriate to start a separate thread on the subject.
The basic facts are clear enough.....
On July 25th, 2000, during take-off, Air France Concorde F-BTSC ran over a titanium strip that had dropped off a Continental DC-10 a few minutes before.
This did not just cause a tyre blowout, but totally ripped the tyre apart, throwing large enough fragments against the underside of the wing to cause a major fuel leak.
The leaking fuel caught fire, resulting (for various reasons) in a loss of power on the #1 and #2 engines.
The aircraft could not maintain height and crashed about 2 min later.
In the accident 113 people died, of which four on the ground.
CJ