Concorde question

[Bellerophon]

arearadar

...As an ATCO we had very specific instructions about how to deal with a Concord(e) radiation overdose. We were told that it would have to make an emergency descent and how to integrate it with other traffic as it descended and what the priorities were...

The display, on the radiation meter, was divided into three, coloured, sections.

• GREEN.....00–10 millirems/hour....No action required.

• AMBER....11–50 millirems/hour....Alert ATC, prepare for possible descent.

• RED........51+....millirems/hour.....Descend out of high dosage flight levels.

If the "Red" level on the radiation meter was reached, this would also trigger the central Master Warning System to display a Red MWS RADN light, and also to sound the MWS gong.


The procedure to be followed was simply an Abnormal Procedure rather than an Emergency Drill.

• AMBER.....Advise ATC that a descent might shortly be required.

• RED.........Alert ATC, obtain clearance, and then descend.

So, even with an instantaneous radiation level in excess of 50 millrems/hour indicating, this was not thought to justify the risk of an emergency, uncleared, descent through flights levels possibly occupied by underflying aircraft, and, in fact, if the warning remained RED below 47,000 ft, the warning was deemed suspect, and the descent could be stopped.

It was of some concern that the sort of radiation levels that would trigger the radiation alarm might very well also be playing havoc with radio communications, particularly HF communications. The possibility of being unable to communicate with ATC was one that had to be considered, and so it was only under these circumstances, with both a Red MWS RADN warning and an ATC communications failure, that the Captain was permitted, at his discretion, to perform an uncleared descent.

It's comforting to know that you were prepared to deal with us if required, but unlikely, I would have thought, that your services would have been called upon in practice.


...Has any Concord crew ever had to do this?...

I not aware of any such descent incident, although obviously I can’t state definitely that one never occurred.

It wasn't unknown for the radiation alarm to go off, I’ve had it, briefly, twice, both times at lowish level over the sea on departure from JFK. On one occasion there was nothing at all to indicate what might have caused it, on the other, we had just overflown a rather large waste barge being towed somewhere!


Best Regards

Bellerophon