A burst tyre was 鈥渢he primary cause鈥� of the Concorde crash last month, which
killed 113 people. Last week the French and British air safety authorities
finally suspended the plane鈥檚 airworthiness certificates, grounding all British
Airways Concorde flights. Air France had already grounded its Concordes
immediately after the accident on 25 July, when a blazing Concorde crashed into
a hotel shortly after taking off from Charles de Gaulle airport to the north of
Paris.
The Civil Aviation Authority, in its statement about the plane, places the
blame firmly on tyre debris: 鈥淎 tyre burst alone should never cause the loss of
a public transport aircraft.鈥� You can read about the CAA鈥檚 position at
www.caa.co.uk/about/press_releases/pr_966416378.
Concorde was grounded on the recommendation of Britain鈥檚 Air Accident
Investigation Branch and its French counterpart the Bureau
Enqu锚tes-Accident, which is investigating the crash. The AAIB has yet to
put any information about the crash on its website
(www.open.gov.uk/aaib/aaibhome.htm). But the BEA promptly posts all its statements about
the progress of the investigation. This is the place to watch for all the
authoritative updates on the inquiry and its aftermath鈥攁lthough up-to-date
news only appears in French (www.beafr.org/francais/actualite/actu.htm). The
BEA recommended suspending the plane鈥檚 airworthiness certificates until measures
had been taken to remove the risks associated with burst tyres. It continued:
鈥淭he inquiry isn鈥檛 yet finished and it would be premature to anticipate the
elements that could yet be established or its conclusions.鈥�
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Concorde鈥檚 fans can get the news about the plane鈥檚 increasingly gloomy
future at www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/8952/e_index.htm. For a less
official take on the accident, try the professional pilots鈥� rumour network at
www.pprune.org, where comment ranges from the well informed to the
apoplectic.
