When you think of air travel, you probably think of slow, long-haul flights across the Atlantic. But during the late 20th century we had supersonic jetliners. So what happened? Why aren’t we flying from New York to Paris in 3 hours instead of 8 hours? Why did the Concorde fail?
On January 21, 1976, the world was introduced to the first-ever supersonic passenger jet. The Concord was a 202 ft long, 84 ft wide jet with a capacity of 120 passengers. On just a taxi to the runway, the Concorde has burned 4,400 lbs of fuel(or 2% of its maximum fuel capacity.) This plane was also the first commercial jet to have afterburners.
Before that, the Concord had set a record for the fastest transatlantic flight in 1973. This is what the engineers thought was going to be the future of aviation. Of course, since the Concorde burned so much fuel, airlines charged a ton of money for a flight on the supersonic jet. A seat on the Concorde was very expensive, a round-trip transatlantic flight on it would cost an average of $12,000. Airlines had to charge so much not only because of the fuel usage but also because there were so few seats on the plane.
Due to many tests by the USAF (U.S. Air Force), and property damages from the sonic boom the Concorde made when flying faster than sound, the FAA banned civil supersonic travel over land in 1973. This was a huge blow to the Concorde because it meant it would only be doing flights over the ocean. The sonic boom the FAA mentions refers to the fact that when an aircraft is flying faster than the speed of sound, a loud boom is made. This is because when the Concorde goes faster than sound the air molecules are pushed apart with such force that it creates a loud shockwave that can damage property if done low to the ground.
But then on July 25th, 2000, Concorde’s 27-year perfect safety record came to an end. Air France flight 4590 crashed shortly after take-off in Paris, killing all 119 people on board. In the Air Crash Investigation Report, they state quote “Shortly before rotation, the front right tire (tire No 2) of the left landing gear ran over a strip of metal, which had fallen from another aircraft, and was damaged. Debris was thrown against the wing structure leading to a rupture of tank 5. A major fire, fuelled by the leak, broke out almost immediately under the left wing. Problems appeared shortly afterward on engine 2 and for a brief period on engine 1. The aircraft took off. The crew shut down engine 2, then only operating at near idle power, following an engine fire alarm. […] The aircraft crashed into a hotel.”
Concorde’s decline started after this incident, while also recovering from the overland supersonic ban. Concorde then continued to decline with the events on September 11th, 2001, when 4 airplanes were hijacked by terrorists. The airline industry began to decline because people were afraid their planes would be hijacked. Concorde then retired in 2003. Airbus stated in their Concorde retirement report “Airbus’ predecessors Aerospatiale and British Aircraft Corporation created Concorde some 40 years ago and we are proud of this remarkable achievement. But its maintenance is complete and respects the decision of British Airways, especially in the present economic climate. It goes without saying that until the completion of the very last flight, we will continue to support the airline so that the highest standards of maintenance and safety are entirely fulfilled.”
Concorde was never made to fail, and it is a resemblance of modern technological improvements in every aspect of aviation. While supersonic jet travel may not be the future of aviation, it goes to show that we can do amazing things in the world of aviation, and all it takes is someone to come up with the right idea to lead us into the future, and it could be you.
