Concorde flies again

PARIS, France -- An Air France Concorde has successfully completed a test flight from Paris -- the first since one of the aircraft crashed in flames last July, killing 113 people.

The needle-nosed plane landed safely, ahead of schedule, at a military base in the south of France where it will undergo tests aimed at returning the grounded supersonic fleet to commercial service.

As it took off from Charles de Gaulle airport, with a deafening roar, several fire engines and at least one ambulance stood by.

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Dozens of enthusiasts had plastered a banner declaring "Concorde, We Love You" against a runway fence. Before take-off, the pilot, Edgard Chillaud, leaned from the cockpit window holding a video camera and waved to them.

The plane carried no passengers and flew at subsonic speed. It was the first Concorde flight since another Air France jet returned from the U.S. following the Paris crash.

Air France and British Airways' Concorde fleets have been grounded until safety can be assured, following the crash.

Engineers from the European aerospace group EADS plan to simulate fuel leaks on the underside of one of Concorde's wings during two weeks of tests in Istres, near Marseille.

Investigators believe a burst tyre, torn by a strip of metal left on the runway by a previous flight, triggered a fatal fire in the fuel tanks on board the flight last July.

The 109 passengers, mainly from Germany, were en route to a luxury holiday when the plane crashed into a hotel on the outskirts of Paris, killing four people on the ground.

No Air France Concorde has flown since the accident and British Airways' seven-strong Concorde fleet has been grounded since mid-August.

France's national civil aviation body (DGAC) gave the green light to Air France Concorde's flight on Tuesday, and said the permit was valid for one month from Thursday.

French Transportation Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot said on Sunday that the luxury jets could return to service sometime this year, if tests proved the chain of events leading to the crash could not be repeated.

The work in France complements $25 million worth of tests being carried out on BA Concordes at Heathrow airport in west London.

BA started fitting bullet-proof liners to the fuel tanks of its Concordes this week in an effort to strengthen the underside of the aircraft and prevent a similar accident happening again.

Within eight to 10 weeks it is hoped that a BA Concorde will be able to be flown on a test flight with the aim of returning both BA's and Air France's fleet to passenger service by the spring.

A British Airways spokesman said the company expected aviation authorities to reinstate Concorde's overall airworthiness certificate and hoped service would gradually be resumed with one daily London to New York flight in the spring.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Concorde flight gets green light
January 16, 2001
Concorde prepares for test flight
January 15, 2001
France set to test fly Concorde
January 12, 2001
Crash inquiry team hopeful for Concorde
January 8, 2001
Concorde fuel tanks burst 'six times'
January 5, 2001

European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS N.V.
British Airways
Air France
DGAC

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