The result was a technological masterpiece, the delta-wing Concorde, which made its first flight on March 2, 1969. An Air France Concorde jet crashes upon takeoff in Paris on this day in 2000, killing everyone onboard as well as four people on the ground.
The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde is a British–French turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner that was operated until 2003. In this video, from a flight between London and Washington D.C., you can see the crew working together to fly the airplane.
It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound, at Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph or 2,180 km/h at cruise altitude), with seating for 92 to 128 passengers.
On this 40th anniversary, we take a look back at Concorde in photos and videos. Air France flight 4590, flight of a Concorde supersonic airplane that crashed in Gonesse, a suburb of Paris, on July 25, 2000. Walking through the Concorde fuselage, I was struck by the tiny windows and somewhat cramped seats. Inside Concorde The Museum of Flight, Seattle. The Concorde… Half a century ago, the legendary supersonic passenger airliner Concorde made its first test flight, on March 2, 1969. The airplane went down in flames almost immediately after takeoff, killing all 109 people on board and 4 others on the ground. Concorde required a crew of three on the flight deck, two pilots and flight engineer. It was the first fatal crash of a Concorde in 24 years of regular passenger service.
The Concorde had a maximum cruising speed of 2,179 km (1,354 miles) per hour, or Mach 2.04 (more than twice the speed of sound), allowing the aircraft to reduce the flight time between London and New York to about three hours.
Flying Concorde. It is one of only two supersonic transports to have been operated commercially; the other is the Soviet-built Tupolev Tu-144, which oper…
First flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued flying for the next 27 years.