Concorde at Heathrow, may be the last flight
British and French officials will meet today to discuss the future of the Concorde aircraft, raising speculation that the supersonic airliner may never fly again. The Civil Aviation Authority in Britain has officially withdrawn the certificate of airworthiness for the Concorde airliner.
British Airways had already grounded all its Concordes because of safety fears. Announcing the move in London, the aviation authority also confirmed that a burst tyre was the primary cause of last month's Air France Concorde crash near Paris, in which 113 people died. The French authorities have confirmed that they are recommending the suspension of the airworthiness certificate of the Concorde until measures are taken to improve its safety.
The French Transport Minister, Jean-Claude Gayssot, has said that the withdrawal of the Concorde airliner's certificate of airworthiness does not necessarily mean the supersonic plane will be grounded for good. In a newspaper interview, the Minister said that the plane's manufacturers would have to make significant changes to the aircraft before it could fly again.
Investigators of last month's crash have been working hard to figure out just what happened. Attention was focused on the engines on the left-hand side. Initially, it was thought debris had somehow entered the mechanism and caused a fire. Then it was determined that the fire had started outside the engines.
But now there is a more worrying explanation. It is believed the tyre burst when the Concorde ran over a piece of metal on the runway during take-off. The seriousness of this discovery cannot be underestimated. A blow-out should never be responsible on its own for the loss of a jet. Until it is known how this happened, and more importantly how to stop it happening again, there will be no more Concorde flights.
