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Concorde aborted takeoff

See below from the Evening Standard website. Anyone know anything more?. .----------------. .A BA Concorde bound for New York aborted take-off at Heathrow this morning after an engine failure on the runway. . . . .Flight BA001, carrying celebrity passengers including chat show host Graham Norton, was fully booked with many flying to New York for Liza Minnelli's wedding and the city's St Patrick's Day parade this weekend. . .. .More than 90 passengers had to leave the aircraft mid-morning after the 10.30 flight was grounded. . .. .During take-off and just as Captain Paul Douglas called for the aircraft's supersonic engines to have extra thrust, the plane lurched sharply to the left. Captain Douglas immediately aborted and taxied the aircraft off the runway. . .. .It is the second time a Concorde take-off has been aborted since services were restarted last November, having been grounded for 15 months after the crash of an Air France Concorde in July, 2000, killing 113 people. . .. .Captain Douglas initially declined to diagnose the problem but immediately called in engineers to overhaul the aircraft.

Wow! Really exciting isn´t it? On a day when many aeroplanes will have abandoned take-off (just like any other). Hundreds NOT killed, tons of metal fragments still staying together, damage not done......got any more gems?

BeanBag. .Since when have Captains called in engineers to overhaul the aircraft. He probably and rightly entered the defect in the Tech Log. He would have been debriefed by the maintenance engineers and that was that. They would then have got on with diagnosing the fault and rectifying it. No big deal, it happens. Why make an issue over it

My compliments to whoever hacked my profile. I hope I get the opportunity to meet you someday where we can discuss your peurile sense of humour <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="mad.gif" /> . . . . [ 19 March 2002, 09:08: Message edited by: Hamrah ]

Pilots do job professionally.. .ATC does job professionally.. .Engineers do job professionally.. .Reporter does job.. .Celebs have story to tell at wedding dinner.. .. .The only one I feel sorry for is the Journo. He/she has to do this rubbish every day!. .. .Now there's a job. (:-{)

NO! Thats brilliant...I saw a plane landing once...

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Captain Douglas initially declined to diagnose the problem...<hr /></blockquote>Tsk Tsk. Poor show. We want an immediate diagnosis old boy. None of this namby pamby 'consultation' nonsense. Use your head man!. .. .Good Lord...I mean it's Lesson 1 on the first page of the 'How to Bluff Your Way as a Concorde Captain' book! Make something up! Never drop your arrogance old boy! Makes the punters nervous, dontcha know, what what.

Oh give me a f****** break guys, I didn't write the story, I just read it and hoped to find out a bit more from the denizens of PPrune. If I'd lied and said I'd seen the incident, instead of quoting the Standard, I probably would have got at least one informative reply instead of a bunch of sarcasm. Next time I'll know to be devious.

True .... many of the words used in the report were "Crap!!!!" ..... however, I appreciate the post as I don't get this particular news paper in my part of the world and didn't hear it from other sources so thanks BEANBAG ..... a small point ..... why don't the more vocal PPRUNE's put together some seminar's on how to report Aircraft Incidents, for the world's media, and save us all a lot of "Depression"

Beanbag. .would you have said anything if it was a common B737,A319,A320 B757. An aircraft emergency is th e same,irrespective of the type involved, the Concord is just another aeroplane.Forget the sensalism

<blockquote>quote:<hr />During take-off and just as Captain Paul Douglas called for the aircraft's supersonic engines to have extra thrust, the plane lurched sharply to the left.<hr /></blockquote>Do Concorde PF's routinely ask for 50% at line up and then the rest at about (presumably 100kts)? . .. .I think the public should be told.. .. .Or, did any of the reheats' fail to light. Hardly 'Breaking News' is it?

After the incident in Paris, I just wonder if a strong pull to the left followed by an aborted take-off would really go down as a "handy party conversation topic" with the passengers ....... maybe some one on board might comment..... . .Two aborted take-offs in a fleet of seven? in the past five months is the last thing that Concorde needs ....... Murphys law I suppose ...... would be interesting to know why they had to abandon the take-offs?

There is a rumour that, on returning to the gate, the first officer and engineer felt it necessary to discuss the matter with the General Manager Flight Operations.

Posted on 'Airliners.net', courtesy of member GDB:. .. . <blockquote>quote:<hr /> There was a loss of power on No.1 engine, down to about 70% . .OAF, the standby aircraft, was serviceable, but because of the congestion at LHR, it is not often towed over to T4, as happened this morning. . .This congestion was to badly delay getting it towed over from the BA Engineering base to T4, where it could be fuelled, loaded and catered. . .OAD, the BA001 that returned to stand, could not get back on stand until 35 mins after the ATO. . .This event is nothing to do with the mods, but I don't recall a similar event recently. Concorde's dispatch reliability is as good as any BA aircraft, but of course the slightest event makes the press, always has done. Especially with 90 pax onboard like this morning, including a bunch of press and celebs. . .The challenge for BA's JFK engineers will be to turn to BA001 quickly enough to get it away on the BA002, in time to meet LHR's jet ban of 23:00 hrs, otherwise it may have to land at RAF Brize Norton tonight. . .We have a fair idea of what caused OAD's ATO, if engine runs are successful tonight it could standby for tomorrow's BA273, OAE is the front runner for that service. . . <hr /></blockquote>

From the Times of London, whose reporter (along with numerous other journos) was on-board.. ._______________. .Concorde was forced to abort its take-off at. .Heathrow today on a flight carrying journalists and celebrities to New York. Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent of The Times, was on board.. .. ."We were accelerating down the runway for take-off when quite suddenly the plane veered to the right. The captain managed to steer it back to the centre line, but then it veered over to the right once again, which was quite alarming. The. .captain then decided to abort the flight. . .. ."British Airways was trying to show the journalists on board that everything on Concorde was going well since its re-launch and that passenger numbers were holding up. The reality is somewhat different: BA has lost about a quarter of. .all its regular Concorde passengers since it was taken out of service. And this morning's debacle only served to underline this. . .. ."This is the first time that a Concorde has been taken out of service since its re-launch in September and the second time that a take-off has been aborted; the last was on November 18, for a similar reason as today's. . .. ."BA is now checking the problem with the rest of the Concorde fleet, but they have yet to say whether or not they are going to withdraw the fleet from service. . .. ."The fault appears to lie with the fuel control system, which is something of an ongoing problem with Concorde. The fuel going to the engines is still regulated by an analogue computer, whereas other planes have switched over to digital. .computers. . .. ."There seems to be too much fuel being pumped into engine number one on the port wing, causing the plane to veer to the right. . .. ."An apologetic captain came on to the intercom and said: “Not the best of starts this morning, I'm afraid," which is something of an understatement. He has been flying Concordes for 18 years and was obviously deeply embarrassed by the whole episode. . .. ."This is a public relations disaster as most of Fleet Street is on board the plane, as well as guests going to Liza Minnelli's wedding in New York.. As a result it is highly unlikely that this. .incident is going to be overlooked."

Just a thought........ ."During take-off and just as Captain Paul Douglas called for the aircraft's supersonic engines to have extra thrust, the plane lurched sharply to the left.". .. . "We were accelerating down the runway for take-off when quite suddenly the plane veered to the right. The captain managed to steer it back to the centre line, but then it veered over to the right once again, which was quite alarming.. .. .ONE lurch left, TWO lurches right, and these journo's think we shold respect their integrity!?!? heck they can't even count AND they need Jimmy Crickets wellingtons to know left from right!

It's a wonder no one from the press reported a straight ahead lurch ? They had every other direction covered. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> . .. .Journos will never let the facts get in the way of a good story. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" />

You rang?. . <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="tongue.gif" />

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Posted on 'Airliners.net', courtesy of member GDB: <hr /></blockquote>What's this - We have to go the competition to get any sense?

oooh imagine the headline !. .. ."Popular Pooftah Perishes in Posh Pointy Plane Prang....". .. .Those ar*seh0le journos should be writing about the heroic crew who saved their sorry lives....

They will all have been pi**ed by the time they lined up. Wouldn't have know L from R or any other letter in alphabet come to that.. .. .Anyway, idiot journalist to call an aborted take-off a "debacle". Doesn't deserve further comment.. .. .Accept to say that the Times used to be a decent newspaper.. . . . [ 16 March 2002, 13:07: Message edited by: Nihontraveller ]

Look, if you're expecting sensible aviation articles in the Evening Standard then you're probably on to a loser to begin with.... .. .Read a professional aviation journal. At least those guys try to get it right.

'most of Fleet Street was on board the plane'!. .. .Nice to know our hacks travel in style.

Most of you seem to have some sort of sensitivity complex. This post started with a guy quoting a newspaper article and asking for more info. Then he gets flamed for doing so. The topic then changes to journo accuracy and no one can offer a constructive comment only petty whining and complaining, which in my book is just as bad as the journos. So, GET OVER IT, reporting will always be sensationalist because that's what people want to hear, if they didn't they wouldn't buy the papers or watch the news.

I have to say that despite all of the calls of sensationalism and journo-insanity, the point remains that there aren't many 30-odd year old commercial airliners that still have people stopping in the street and looking up (even if it is just because of the noise <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> ) or that draws quite the crowd and interest that Concorde does wherever it goes.. .I, for one, have to say that no matter how many times I see one out there on the apron or especially when taking off just in front of us - the little boy in me always just wants to go 'Wow!'

In other news: a BA Concorde was recently seen to lurch upwards while rolling along the runway, and was last seen receding into the distance trailing flames from four spots on the wings.. .. ."It was deafening" said a bystander.

from the horsecrap daily filth:. .story by richard cranium. .------------------------------. .the aircraft went left, right and then center, and was starting to break up in pieces, fuel was gashing out both wings, tires were exploding, and smoke appeared in both the cabin as in the flightdeck.people were screaming and jumping up and down the isle, while most of them were getting strangled by the oxygenmasks, which were hanging out of the ceiling because of the explosive decompression during the take off roll, which took twice it's normal distance.the captain didn't have the sense of abording the take off, instead he was shouting out on the pa, begging the passengers to help him.the first officer and flight engineer both crying out for help asking if there were any journos onboard who could save the airplane and it's passengers.ofcourse there were plenty onboard, and they all went into the cockpit, and aborded the t/o, and kicked the crew out of their seats.the airplane came to a halt, and the journos managed the emergency evacuation, with the airplane now burning up completely.after the succesful rescue mission,ba management thanked the journos on their knees, and promised that this filthy old heap of crap airplane would retire from it's service.the journos saved the day, and the celebs all willingly, gave each journo involved in this heroic action, a free blwjob.. .. .-------------------------------------------------. . <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> . .. .sorry for any typos, but i'm not so fantastic as all journos are, i can only type in the fms scratchpad...... . . . [ 18 March 2002, 17:03: Message edited by: blowawayjet ]

I was on EI373 from LHR/SNN on Friday morning. I saw Concorde line up. We were number 2 after it for take off (Finnair A321 was number 1). The EI capt advised the pax of the expectant noise and for us not to worry as it was Concorde. Off went Concorde's breaks and you could see the afterburners clearly. Within about 3 seconds the afterburner in the far LHS engine went out. Within a second so did the others and the airplane slowed. All in all it took about 10 seconds from releasing the breaks to stopping. Not very eventful but I have to admire the crew for their split second decision making. Hats off to them.. . . . [ 18 March 2002, 17:08: Message edited by: trustno1 ]

I was on Fridays flight, so maybe I can report a few facts here ............. .. .1.> There was some yaw to the left as power was applied, with some yaw to the right as the crew corrected for this, before the noise level reduced as the the engines were throttled back and we rolled to the next exit and vacated 9R.. .. .2.> The crew informed the passengers that an engine had failed to accelerate and they were diagnosing the problem, in the meantime we'd return to a stand.. .. .3.> We had to wait for a outbound aircraft to leave a cul-de-sac at T4 before we went back onto stand.. .. .4.> Back on stand, we were told that engineering would be looking at our aircraft, but also that a replacement aircraft was also to be prepared.. .. .5.> We disembarked, at which point there was a Journo still in his seat dictating a sensationalised version of events down his mobile phone - much to the obvious amusement of many of the passengers.. .. .6.> We went back to the lounge & boarded the replacement aircraft once it had been prepared. Unfortunately T4 was very busy and it took an hour or so before the replacement could get on stand.. .. .7.> The whole thing was a non-event. The crew were excellent in keeping us informed of the problem and what was going to be done about it. The ground staff were also excellent in keeping us informed on the progress once we were back in the lounge. The only part worth reporting would have been how well British Airways dealt with the whole episode.. .. .Very well done all involved - thank you

That last post was confirmed in the Sunday Times today by no less than Jeremy Clarkson who recently had dinner with Graham Norton. (Is there something we should know?). Graham told him it was a non event and happened at such a slow speed that a puppy could have stopped it rolling. Clarkson then went on to describe his own flight on Concorde in such flattering terms that a PR person from BA might blush in writing it.. .So he's not so bad after all.

Here is the full excerpt on what Mr Norton told Mr Clarkson:. .. ."Luckily, Graham Norton came to the rescue. The newspapers reported this week that he was on board when one of the plane’s mighty Olympus engines developed a fault at the moment of take-off. We were led to believe that the plane had swerved on the runway as the pilot desperately sought to save the life of Britain’s best-loved chat show host. . .. .Good. Here was a chance to savage British Airways for putting profits above the safety of Graham Norton. Unfortunately, I had a drink with Graham last night and his view of events was slightly different. He said the Concorde was doing about 4mph when the engine went wrong and that a small dog could have brought it safely to a halt. He also said the staff were wonderful and that after a short wait everyone was put on another Concorde which worked perfectly. Damn. ". .. .For the full article check out. .. . <a href="http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,2-1501-245392,00.html" target="_blank">http://www.sunday-times.co .uk/printFriendly/0,,2-1501-245392,00.html</a>

So what sort of a drink would JC have with GN?. .. .Brown ale??

Ref the above post, here's the full Article, worth a read even if you don't like Clarkson. .. . <a href="http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,2-1501-245392,00.html" target="_blank">Sunday Times Article</a> . .. . Jeremy Clarkson: My first trip on Concorde, a love-hate kind of affair . . . . . . . .You wouldn’t last long in this column writing game if you supported every move that the government made and loved everything you watched on television. It is the job of a vicar to see the good in people and the job of a columnist to poke around with a lollipop stick until he finds the bad. . .Florence Nightingale had BO, you know. And Rolf Harris? I’d look behind the cheery smile and find out what sinister piece of the genetic Aussie jigsaw caused him to grow that beard. . .. .Concorde, however, is a problem. I’m so in love with this great white dart that when I found I was due to go on it, for the first time, I feared I’d be stuck for something to say. I’d just sit there dribbling and grinning. . .. .Luckily, Graham Norton came to the rescue. The newspapers reported this week that he was on board when one of the plane’s mighty Olympus engines developed a fault at the moment of take-off. We were led to believe that the plane had swerved on the runway as the pilot desperately sought to save the life of Britain’s best-loved chat show host. . .. .Good. Here was a chance to savage British Airways for putting profits above the safety of Graham Norton. Unfortunately, I had a drink with Graham last night and his view of events was slightly different. He said the Concorde was doing about 4mph when the engine went wrong and that a small dog could have brought it safely to a halt. He also said the staff were wonderful and that after a short wait everyone was put on another Concorde which worked perfectly. Damn. . .. .My trip was even worse. In the Concorde smoking lounge, the captain himself popped by to dispense bonhomie and press a little flesh. . .. .I forget his name. But it will have been Tom Bannister, or Mike Pemberton. It’s a rule, I think, that all BA pilots have a single-syllable Christian name and three syllables in the surname. It’s reassuring. . .. .On the plane we were offered a drink, and you can forget the choice of sauvignon or chardonnay. It becomes obvious, as the stewardess runs through the options, why this plane is so small. Most of the space is taken up by the wine cellar. I settled on a Tattinger ’88, or it could have been a Bollinger RD, and started looking around for something to hate. There was nothing obvious, apart from the man sitting next to me called A A Gill. . .. .Then we started to roll. Now I’ve been in some fairly fast machinery over the years but there’s very little that can prepare you for the thrust of a Concorde on after-burner power. And even the take-off acceleration is nothing compared with the sheer thrill when you clear Wales . . . . .. .We were doing 550mph, which is slightly faster than the speed of a normal passenger jet, when the pilot pushed his throttles into reheat and the world went berserk. It felt as though a very fat man was sitting on me. There was so much pressure that I thought my seat was going to break. And we were climbing! Of course, the higher you go, the thinner the air and the slower the speed of sound, so eventually we settled at Mach 2 — 1,200mph — that’s faster than any modern fighter plane can manage. You don’t hear the sonic boom. That’s reserved for people 58,000ft below on ships. It isn’t a boom either, it’s a rifle crack. . .. .I’d been told Concorde is noisy. It isn’t, especially if you sit in the front cabin. And I’d been told it’s cramped — and, again, it isn’t, unless you are used to sitting in a field. But it wouldn’t matter if you were made to sit in a half-nelson, listening to a collection of rap artists. It’s only for three hours, for heaven’s sake. . .. .I couldn’t even find fault with the staff. If they’d been 5% more chummy, they’d have been too American. And if they’d been 5% more chilled, they’d have been too British. They were perfect as well. . .. .I suppose I could whinge about the cost, but as I’d bought a £650 economy ticket and had been upgraded it would seem churlish. There was damn-all else. We landed at JFK, picked up our bags after a 20-second wait, cleared customs in a minute and pretty soon I was in Manhattan having another breakfast. . .. .Concorde stumped me. But it’s my job to find something wrong. And I did. The other passengers. Half of them were too handsome and the other half were too rude. Now I know that when you’ve just sold your company for £28 billion, taking the Concorde is like taking the bus. And that the staff are therefore nothing more than bus conductors. . .. .But here’s a tip. When they ask if you’d like another braised otter eyebrow, at least have the decency to look up. There was one man who was so obsessed with the reflection of his own hair in his laptop screen that he never once acknowledged the presence of the poor girl trying to feed him a lightly dead kingfisher. . .. .At last. In the immortal words of Jack Hawkins, my eyes were filled with hate. And that’s good. It keeps a man alive. oPPP healthcare. Last week I told the story of my wife’s claim for the removal of a lipoma from her shoulder under our PPP healthcare policy. I should have said that although the PPP people initially disputed the claim, once they received the specialist’s clinical explanation for it they did accept and pay up. Sorry, PPP.