The disaster that effectively ended commercial supersonic air travel

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/international/2010/December/international_December219.xml§ion=international

Continental guilty over 2000 Concorde crash (AFP)

6 December 2010,

PARIS - A French court fined Continental Airlines Monday over the 2000 Concorde crash in which 113 died, but did not jail anyone over a disaster that effectively ended commercial supersonic air travel.

The court found the US airline criminally responsible for the Paris crash, caused by a piece of metal that fell from a Continental DC-10 and later shredded the supersonic jet’s tyre, which led to a fire in the fuel tank.

Continental was ordered to pay a fine of 200,000 euros for the crash and to pay Air France a million euros in damages.

The judge gave Continental employee John Taylor a 15-month suspended jail sentence for having incorrectly manufactured and installed the titanium strip.

[leveymg]

1. Key-reist. Jet tires get shredded all the time. They don't usually cause fuel tanks to explode.

Something tells me there was a little design error in the Concorde's wheel wells. Who designed the Concorde? It certainly wasn't Mr. Taylor.

[NNN0LHI]

4. For the record I never believed the tire shredded from that strip of metal they said did it

Another theory that seemed more plausible to me was that someone had left out a spacer between the wheels of the Concorde. That seemed more likely to me but I am no expert.

We do have some experts here that understand this stuff. I hope they comment about this.

Don

[wtmusic]

6. Those planes were basically one-offs

and technology-wise fit somewhere between a 727 and the space shuttle. Their safety record occupies a similar space, and IMO they were always an overpriced and inherently risky way to get to London.

[leveymg]

7. At 33 sec. into video, plane is still on the ground, rotating, wing is aflame.

It's 15 feet from the tires to the bottom of wheel well where the landing gear tucks in. We're supposed to believe that shredded tire caused the fuel tank to explode while the landing gear was still down? That doesn't seem credible, but I haven't read the crash report which is available on-line as a big PDF file.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qid2s89OfZU&feature=related

[FLPanhandle]

11. This is a French court, of course they are not going to blame the design

But you are correct. Any design where the fuel tanks explode if a tire blows is really the fault.

[wtmusic]

2. Back in the 70s we envisioned a world where all flights were on "SSTs".

We also envisioned a post-Vietnam world where reason ruled diplomacy... :crazy:

[NNN0LHI]

5. I had a picture of the SST on my tool box back then

And I thought crazy stuff like wars without end were over back then too.

We were both wrong.

Don

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. that's misleading.

the SST was losing money every time it flew. It was a bitch to maintain, it guzzled fuel at far greater rates than subsonic jets, and it was limited to overseas routes, because it was one noisy sucker. Breaking windows noisy.

When the US partners dropped out, they realized that it was a cute, technologically advanced boondoggle that would never make money. It was going to be shut down and grounded earlier, except for some politicians keeping their dream alive. Once the accident took place, they used it as an excuse, not the real reason.

[leveymg]

8. But, it was beautiful to behold.

A pure white Air France Concorde passed over me at about 5000 feet headed toward Orley Airport while I was walking in the woods in Northern Virginia a few miles from Dulles Airport a decade or so ago. It was magnificent against a cloudless blue sky.

I miss "big engineering."

[ChairmanAgnostic]

10. agreed, it was a beaut.

ever see a space shuttle launch? I did, only one, a night flight, at a distance.

W O W

Instead of big science, America is now concentrating on Big Wall Street. Something's wrong with that.

[MadHound]

9. The Concorde was a losing proposition anyway

Massively expensive to run, incapable of landing or taking off from most major airports, excessively noisy and thus couldn't go supersonic over land, and massively polluting. Not to mention that it was more of a novelty for the rich and elite rather than actually a commercial planes for the masses.

Frankly I'm glad that the thing is gone. It sucked down too many resources and delivered little in exchange.

[KamaAina]

12. Well, it did get Phil Collins across the pond in time to play at both Live Aid concerts

London, then Philly.

[MadHound]

13. That's a good thing?

Despise Phil Collins, always have.