Concorde back in the air
A British Airways Concorde took off today from London’s Heathrow airport for the first time since the fleet was grounded in the wake of last year’s Air France crash in Paris which claimed 113 lives.
The jet left the runway two minutes ahead of schedule at 2.18pm for the supersonic test flight.
The Concorde will reach its top speed of 1,350mph on the three hours and 40 minutes journey, which was due to end with a touchdown at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire at 6pm today.
BA’s Concorde chief pilot Captain Mike Bannister was flying the jet.
His co-pilot was Civil Aviation Authority chief test pilot Jock Reid accompanied by a team of engineers from BA and from plane-making company Airbus UK.
The flight was testing various modifications that have been made to both BA’s and Air France’s Concorde fleet
The BA Concorde - alpha foxtrot - had already conducted a satisfactory taxi-ing trial around the tarmac at Heathrow.
Concorde’s four Rolls Royce engines gave a deafening roar as it powered into the air, leaving onlookers stunned into momentary silence.
Their heads turned to follow the unmistakable pencil point nose of the supersonic aircraft as it disappeared into the clouds.
One member of British Airways’ staff punched the air and jumped for joy as he watched the take-off, shouting: ‘‘We’ve done it!’’
