The Concorde's retirement was due to a number of factors. The supersonic aircraft was noisy and extremely expensive to operate, which restricted flight availability.
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The official line was that both the French and the UK governments agreed to end Concorde's flights, mainly because the costs of maintenance were going to be too great. The Treaty would not appear to prevent one side from going it alone but they would then have to shoulder all the costs.
Boom Supersonic, the US plane manufacturer, plans to have the answer with its new Overture jet, which is set to transport customers at twice the speed of today's fastest commercial aircraft, and is regarded as the new Concorde.
Such speed didn't come cheap, though: A transatlantic flight required the high-maintenance aircraft to gulp jet fuel at the rate of one ton per seat, and the average round-trip price was $12,000.
Concorde used the most powerful pure jet engines flying commercially. The Aircraft's four engines took advantage of what is known as 'reheat' technology, adding fuel to the final stage of the engine, which produced the extra power required for take-off and the transition to supersonic flight.
On 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590 crashed shortly after take-off with all 109 occupants and four on the ground killed. This was the only fatal incident involving Concorde; commercial service was suspended until November 2001.
Concorde is sadly no longer flying, but it is still possible to visit some of the remaining 18 airframes, there are others not open to the public but you can still see them.
About ConcordeWith a take-off speed of 220 knots (250mph) and a cruising speed of 1350mph – more than twice the speed of sound - a typical London to New York crossing would take a little less than three and a half hours, as opposed to about eight hours for a subsonic flight.
Twenty Concorde aircraft were built, six for development and 14 for commercial service. All of these, except two of the production aircraft, are preserved.
The aircraft quickly proved itself unquestionably as it reached speeds of up to 1,354 mph. To put that into context, that is around 800 mph faster than a Boeing 747 and over 350 mph faster than the earth spins on its axis!
The Concorde was famously loud: a take-off at Washington airport in 1977 measured 119.4 decibels. By comparison, a clap of thunder hits 120 decibels while the pain threshold for the human ear is around 110.
The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) recorded the last intelligible words in the cockpit (translated into English): Co-pilot: Le Bourget, Le Bourget, Le Bourget.Pilot: Too late (unclear). Control tower: Fire service leader, correction, the Concorde is returning to runway zero nine in the opposite direction.
It was just one minute 17 seconds after its pilot was told the plane was on fire. According to a report by the Mirror, Captain Christian Marty's last words on July 25, 2000, were: Too late...no time. The co-pilot was then heard to say: Le Bourget, Le Bourget.
Today, British travellers have a better chance than many to spy one of the remaining aircraft, with seven dotted across the UK, more than in any other country.
BA never suffered a serious accident with its seven strong fleet. Concorde service was profitable by the late 1980s and if not for the economic downturn and Air France Concorde crash of 2000, may have survived to this day.
The Concorde carried out supersonic flights until 2003, when it was retired. Also, because the plane flew faster than the speed of sound, it created a sonic boom, an explosive noise caused by shock waves that were a nuisance to people on the ground.
No manufacturer has yet been able to recreate the days of the Concorde, but some are trying. Denver-based Boom Supersonic is leading the pack with its faster-than-sound Overture jet, already securing over 100 orders from United Airlines, Japan Airlines, and American Airlines.
Such speed didn't come cheap, though: A transatlantic flight required the high-maintenance aircraft to gulp jet fuel at the rate of one ton per seat, and the average round-trip price was $12,000.
Fifty years ago, the federal government banned all civilian supersonic flights over land. The rule prohibits non-military aircraft from flying faster than sound so their resulting sonic booms won't startle the public below or concern them about potential property damage.