The court ruled that the crash resulted from a piece of metal from a Continental jet that was left on the runway; the object punctured a tyre on the Concorde and then ruptured a fuel tank.

The Concorde's downfall was a combination of economic impracticality, environmental concerns, and a singular tragic event. From its inception, the Concorde was a "fuel-guzzler," consuming approximately one ton of fuel per seat—nearly four times more than the Boeing 747. This made it vulnerable to oil price spikes. Environmentally, it was plagued by the "sonic boom", which led most countries to ban it from flying at supersonic speeds over land, severely limiting its routes to just transatlantic hops. The "death blow" came on July 25, 2000, when Air France Flight 4590 crashed in Gonesse, killing all 109 on board and four on the ground. While the crash was caused by debris on the runway and not a design flaw, it shattered the aircraft's "invincible" reputation. The subsequent slump in high-end travel after 9/11 and rising maintenance costs for a fleet of only 20 aircraft led British Airways and Air France to retire the fleet in 2003. It was a 20th-century marvel that simply couldn't survive 21st-century economics.