- | ACCIDENT DETAILS |
Date: | July 25, 2000 |
Time: | 1644 |
Location: | Gonesse, France |
Operator: | Air France |
Flight #: | 4590 |
Route: | Paris - New York City |
AC Type: | Aerospatiale BAe Concorde 101 |
Registration: | F-BTSC |
cn / ln: | 203 |
Aboard: | 109 (passengers:100 crew:9) |
Fatalities: | 109 (passengers:100 crew:9) |
Ground: | 4 |
Summary: | The aircraft struggled to gain altitude after taking off from Charles de Gaulle airport. The pilot reported the No. 2 engine failed and struggled to steer towards Le Bourget airfield as smoke and fire trailed the jet's left wing. The plane was unable to gain altitude, went nose high, stalled and crashed into a small hotel complex. A metal strip left on the runway by another plane gashed one of the Concorde's tires which blew out sending a piece of rubber into the underside of the wing which sent a shockwave which ruptured a seam in the fuel tank. An electrical severed by another piece of rubber sparked which ignited leaking fuel ignited and started an uncontrollable fire. Power was lost to the No. 1 and No. 2 engines which led to loss of control of the aircraft and subsequent crash. Investigation revealed the metal strip was probably a thrust reverser part from Continental Airlines DC-10-30 , registered N13067 which departed Paris as Flight 055 to Newark. This is the first crash of a Concorde in aviation history. The French government convicted Continental and a Continental mechanic of a crime but an appeals court reversed the decision. |
Sources
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