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Concorde Is Back in the Skies
A Concorde took off from London to New York Monday for the first time since one of the supersonic planes crashed in Paris last year, killing 113 people and grounding the entire Concorde fleet.
The jet, embarking on the first trans-Atlantic test flight since safety modifications were made to the fleet, left London's Heathrow airport 40 minutes later than scheduled due to fog and congestion, a British Airways (BA) spokesman said.
"It was a very smooth takeoff," the spokesman added.
BA said the flight would be used to assess the operation of the aircraft, the third BA Concorde to be upgraded. Two earlier modified aircraft have flown half-way across the Atlantic as part of ongoing tests.
"The purpose of the flight is to check all flight and ground procedures for a normal passenger departure," a BA spokeswoman added.
The Concorde fleets owned by British Airways and Air France were grounded after an Air France Concorde burst into flames just after takeoff from Charles de Gaulle airport on July 25 last year, killing all 109 people aboard and four on the ground.
Stringent security measures also have been imposed on Concorde flights in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States, when hijacked commercial passenger jets smashed into New York and Washington, the airline said.
Monday's flight, carrying about 92 engineers and crew, left Heathrow about 11:10 a.m local time (1010 GMT) and was scheduled to arrive at John F Kennedy International Airport around 10 a.m. local time (1400 GMT), the spokeswoman said.
BA will begin a daily scheduled commercial Concorde flight six days a week from November 9 between London and New York and from December 1 between London and Barbados in a once-a-week service during the winter.
Air France is also resuming flights from November 7.
Air France has been losing an estimated $4 million a month by keeping the Concorde grounded and maintained.
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