Thank you for watching! We hope you enjoyed the video. Correction: Please note that the video states Air France Flight 4590 crashed due to an engine failure which is incorrect, the flight crash was caused by debris on the runway. Apologies for this error.
@@kevinwiltshire2217 the overriding factor was the ruptured fuel tank. This damage & the consequence doomed the flight to disaster. All other factors were not causes of the disaster. Several major human errors were made, indeed, the maintenance on the left undercarriage may have been disasterous at the other end of the flight if all else went well, however if the tank was not ruptured the flight had a much better chance of success than other wise.
Also : the French had forgotten a critical spacer between the wheels, its why the black tyre marks were caused by a burning concorde trying to take off. The wheels had flicked over and locked at an angle, concordes engines were able to push concorde along regardless. Very soon after the crash investigators charged into the workshop to find the critical spacer hanging up , unused. Concorde was officially overweight The flight engineer turned off an engine without asking or telling the pilot The debris on the runway was invented to save face from the basic errors by the crew. At the time british airways engineers ( the mechanics who actually work on the aircraft) gathered to watch breaking news footage and the prevailing view was that the fuel hose had come off the engine ie the French maintenance team had forgotten to connect the hose or simply hadn't done their job properly ( along with forgetting to put the critical spacer on the undercarriage).
The most amazing feat of engineering from the British / French design teams. Even to this day, it’s the most beautiful and iconic passenger aircraft ever built.
@E VanAnd 2hrs 53mins earlier or later, I used to watch/hear her when I was working in Esher, Surrey coming out/into Heathrow. There was an old shop with a big plate glass window that would violently vibrate from the sheer noise/power of those Rolls Royce Olympus engines. I think if I'd lived in Esher, or anywhere under the flight path, I would of been pleased it stopped.
The fact the visor and nose still work on the original seals after 40 years shows the level of quality and craftsmanship is truly incredible by far the greatest achievement of mankind
Hydroelectric dams, Wind Farms, irrigation systems ... these are the great achievements of mankind. Things which have sustained life and advantaged all the peoples of the planet. Not a very small aircraft (a wonder as it was) that could only ferry very rich people principally via sea routes.
Not high tech. Just tech we need due to commonsense. One still has to create machines in order not to stagnate as a species. As for wind power. That will soon disappear from society. I've yet to see a wind turbine rotating! Rolls Royce have the right idea. Miniature nuclear generators in each town. not only is this future-proof, it works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.@@t.p.mckenna
So proud watching this because as a family we moved to Bristol so my dad would have us nearby as he worked on Concorde for many years as a draughtsman working on the mentioned, master warning system. Living in Bristol we were used to various sights and sounds, I remember vividly a Vulcan bomber flew around, it seemed constantly with a Concorde engine attached as it was a test bed for the legendary engine. My dad has passed now, but each time I watch something like this, I feel proud of the achievements of so many…But mainly my dad. Love you dad..
@@davidcousins5493 The pilots were true airman and heroes. They actively flew that plane, upside down, careening away from the runway until the very end.
For anyone curious about the Concorde crash referenced (Air France Flight 4590) at 14:45, the engines never failed. I'll link a video of John Hutchinson, a former Concorde pilot explaining the crash in detail. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fqOcYhzWUZY.html
He is a very interesting chap to listen to. Had they kept the engines running (as BA crew are instructed to) there is a chance they could have effectively blown out the fire and landed. This crash wasn't just 'lining up the holes in the swiss cheese', it was practically drilling the holes in the cheese first.
I wish I could give more than a single "like" to this video. What a privilege is listening to one of the test engineers of the Concorde. Although It feels to me sweet but at the same time bitter. Do you realise that when I was born the Concord was not only the current state of the art in air transport, but also the way the future would be? And now it is only the past of this industry. Just in the same way that the Apollo missions to the Moon are the past and highest point in the Human space voyage. We humans were such a promising species. And now we are just in the verge of our hugest and most dangerous failure because of the consumerism and the unnatural evergrowing economy the corporations are forcing.
@@ElliHarper man, get out ot the fridge and look how the world is at 2022: Every carmaker sells lots of hybrid cars. Your focused anger on the Prius is outdated. And it's not a "leftits" thing when the shareholders and executives in big multinational companies realize that the people is getting poorer and poorer and that they look for economic cars not wasting oil and money. By the way, I bought a Prius in 2008 for political reasons: Against the Middle Ages kings in Arabia and the other tyrants selling oil to support their regimes. And I don't mind if they were Putin, Bush, the queens of England and the Netherlands, Chavez and Maduro, Lula, Rusef or any other tyrant owning the only truth claiming to be the idol to be worshipped by left or right supporters. I bought the car that gave them less power paying them less oil. If you think that paying more money to tyrants like Maduro, the Saud family or Putin is leftist, then you need to visit any oftalmologist.
I used to go to Shannon Airport as a kid to watch the pilots do landing training in this incredible machine. The future of air travel seemed so bright back then. How quick things can change.
Thank you for a moving tribute to the Concorde. I started flying in Cape Town in 1970. In a small Piper Cherokee... Taking off from Youngsfield and D.F. Malan airport. In 1974 I was working with a colleague on a 'repeater' tower in Durbanville - overlooking the D.F. Malan airport. At the time, the Concorde had come out to South Africa to test the flight characteristics from a "hot and high" airport - Namely Jan Smuts airport in Johannesburg. For some reason it flew down to Cape Town, and we witnessed it taking off from D.F. Malan airport for a test flight over the ocean - with our Prime Minister, Advocate John Vorster on board. Whilst over the sea, it exceeded Mach-2... I saw it again at Heathrow in 1993 - and even through the double glass lounge windows, the ferocity of it's jet engines was felt. After the Douglas DC-3, it was the most beautiful a/c ever built!
"Advocate John Vorster"? A bit heavy on the bootlicking, considering all that guy amounted to was racist, nationalist garbage, stacked and shaped to look like a human being.
I started working for the airlines in 1988. When I moved over to the cargo section at KIAD Dulles in 1990, BA was flying the speed bird at least once a week.. it's something special to be able to walk around the airframe, but when takeoff time was near.. I always remember the employees at cargo line up to watch speedbird take off.. cargo stopped for 10min as the entire airport was shaking from the raw power of those AB on full power.
@@ImperialWarMuseums The engine didnt fail. A metal strip from a plane taking off before fell onto runway and Concordes wheel flicked this up and it punctured the wing tank and the fuel ignited. IWM get your story straight
Wow 28+ years working on Concorde, kinda puts the 2 hours worth of maintenance work I did on Concorde to shame. 😀 In 2000 while working for Qantas in Sydney I was lucky enough to service and do some engine maintenance on a chartered Air France Concorde that flew into Sydney for the Olympics. Certainly one of the highlights of my career that really stands out. 😀 🇦🇺
I've always loved Concorde, never had the chance to fly with her but feel very annoyed when people say things like "an engine failed" causing the tragic Paris crash. The official investigation showed a number of critical errors on the part of the French Captain and the unfortunate effect of the metal fragment left on the runway by the previous aircraft were given as the cause; Concorde was not to blame. Otherwise, a very interesting and informative video.
I agree with everything you say. I was lucky enough to fly on her to the Caribbean from Heathrow one Christmas Eve and it was my dream come true lived ever min of it and lucky enough to have 2 take off after landing at Shannon airport to refuel .
'The official investigation showed a number of critical errors on the part of the French Captain' Could you please give us your sources of such assessments please? Because I do not agree with that...BTW two engines failed.
@@danguy5777 Read the report into the crash. The engines were not at fault. They kept going as long as they could have done. Do you think B17s crashed because of engine failure or because they were hit by shells and burst into flames ? Likewise Concorde crashed because of external factors not because of a fault in the aircraft. Lets just stay accurate and disciplined in what we say for the sake of those who lost loved ones.
There had been several incidents that showed the vulnerability of the Concorde. The decision was made to reduce the risk by adding additional structural support to a very small section determined to be the most likely to fail. It was not considered possible to modify the aircraft to be as safe as every other aircraft type in service. Debris on the runway would result in a risk of engine failure or damage to tires on any other aircraft. Neither of those risks involves the loss of life.
One day an Air France Concorde routed through Heathrow and I was working for Air France on airside duties in Terminal 2. In between other arriving flights I went to the gate, casually flashed my badge and walked onto the plane. And into the cockpit. What was the worst that might have happened? 20 years old and fearless! Sat in the pilot's seat. Had a look across the technology. Got up and walked off with a nice little story to tell.
Thank you, a world class documentary on a first class aeroplane. Isn't it nice to see a dead-standard standby direct-reading compass mounted in the centre windscreen support, whilst surrounded by unimaginable new technology?
Air travel without afterburners just isn't the same....I remember literally being blown off the road in a borrowed Citreon Saxo I was driving past Heathrow when the Concorde was lifting off, I didn't stop grinning for a week!
This brings back memories of watching Concorde fly over our house in Berkshire as a child. I'm sure we heard a supersonic boom on a few occasions as well. Went on the Concorde at Brooklands a few years ago. That was also an early one with original test equipment on board. It really was/is a beautiful aircraft.
The one at Brookland is one of the commercial fleet. The one at Yeovilton is the prototype that has all the test equipment on board. Brooklands also have the simulator so you can pay to 'fly' Concorde . I flew it through Tower Bridge and probably lost my licence ! The sonic booms were very common when sailing in the West of the English Channel as the French aircraft passed at above the speed of sound. The unusual thing was it was a double supersonic boom - not sure where the two pressure waves originated from.
@Chris Blay I vaguely remember being told that concord wasn’t allowed to reach supersonic speed until it was clear of any populated areas, reason being that the sonic boom would shatter the windows of houses below
@@dazzawazza3578 I also remember being told something similar, so did some research. Apparently the speed of sound is 343 m/s and Concorde would usually have been on approach to landing or have just taken off, so unlikely to ordinarily have been travelling at those speeds. I definitely remember a boom on a few occasions, something similar to what you get from a military jet aircraft at air shows. Who knows, people don’t always follow the rules.
This documentary is excellent, I used to watch the Concorde depart/arrive at London Heathrow in the late 70's when I was plane spotting there , what a sight and sound ! Sad it's gone.
I can remember seeing it when it came to Sydney, I think, 1981. It flew west above Parramatta Road from the CBD out to the western suburbs. That was a lucky sighting for me.
Mr Dunlevy's whole heart and soul are in this aircraft. Even after retirement he just could not leave it. You can see how passionate and happy being around this magnificent aircraft makes him.
What a magnificent plane! It's really sad it's not flying anymore. Losing the Concorde is so far the only time humanity made a step backwards in technology. We were able to travel over the Atlantic ocean in just about 3 hours, now it takes us 6 hours.
14.49 The Air France concorde struck debris on the runway that had fallen off another aircraft. This caused a tyre to fail and rupture fuel and hydraulic lines.
Flew on her in 1992 on a promo flight from the Middle East to London. A boyhood dream come true and I guarantee you the reality was even better than the dream. The reheat selection in the cockpit he mentions @9:45 gave two distinct and strong shoves in the back a few seconds apart: the pilot in command announced it beforehand so you didn't get a surprise.
So, 45+ years later humans can only travel at a fraction of the speed they use to do in the 70's. What an incredible slick machine, it was like no one, an artwork. It is nice to have at display in some airports.
There is a Concorde at the Brooklands Museum in Surrey. Visitors to the museum can pay a small fee and have a guided tour inside it. It's a beautiful and surprisingly small aircraft. The museum is a fantastic day out for anyone interested in the history of cars and aircraft.
I worked in an office on it's take off flight path for a big chunk of 2002 and I used to stop to watch it fly over into the distance every day. I also lived under the flight path for landing and used to watch them come in every evening. I remember watching the last commercial landing into Heathrow in 2003. It was a very sad day when they stopped flying.
As a ten year old in 84 I found it thoroughly exciting seeing concord flying over various holiday camps we were staying at. That fascination never seemed to leave me. It was a sad day when it stopped flying but I have to say I do get a very similar feeling with that massive airbus when I see one.
This icon needs to be put back into service, it was truly amazing seeing this beautiful piece of work in the air. Concorde needs the skies again and we need you Concorde
In the comments you said for the French Concorde accident: “one engine failed “ No, it was a piece of metal on the track which punctured a reservoir, setting the plane on fire according the French report on the accident. Like said Concorde had a complicated life due to huge difficulties in development as well as a strong opposition from USA unable to develop a better plane and putting (as usual) strong commercial barriers to try to kill the project. Marvelous bird in any case and a fantastic co-operation of British and French industry.
Hey IWM, I went to the museum a few weeks ago, it would be so awesome if you could use the bank of RU-vid content you have in the museum. Free wifi in the buildings + QR codes next to planes with a corresponding video for all the visitors to enjoy. Such a wealth of knowledge in these videos which would just enhance the experience in person.
I was lucky enough to fly on 2 Concordes in the 1980s. It was an incredible experience which I will never forget. On the LHR-JFK flight, I visited the cockpit for about half an hour and they explained a lot of interesting things to me. The flight took 3 hours and 10 minutes if I remember correctly.
At 14:50, you are wrong: there wasn't any engine failure on the Concorde which crashed. The Concorde hit a piece of metal on the runway which made the tire burst, a piece from which managed to hit the inner wing which housed filled to the brim fuel tanks.
If John Dunlevy could do, he'd sleep inside Concorde at night. Brilliant listening to John in this video. As several have said already, it was not an engine failure, but FOD that was part of the reason for the AF4590 disaster.
Faster and higher flying than most fighters of the time, yet could do uk to the states and back again without the heavy maintenance of the fighters, and with everyone in civilian clothes. I think it was mostly designed with pencils and slide rules, which is just mental
What a fantastic machine Concorde is even after more than 50 years. Even more fantastic is the talented people who created it from scratch. I always learn something new about this marvel and its creators!
I remember going to see one at Christchurch Airport on a school camp. I remember thinking how thin it was and how small the windows were, but also how impressed I was in general.. Nice video, thank you 👍🏼
I never had the money to fly Concorde but I did have the privilege to go inside in one of the maintenance hangers at Heathrow when I was preparing the Statutory Accounts for ‘British Airways Engineering Limited’ back in 2000. What a bird!
Excellent story of one of the most graceful aeroplanes ever built. The escape chute, never knew it had been fitted to the test article! Thanks for posting and please keep up the great stories.
The Air France Concorde didn’t suffer a engine failure! Threw a piece of loose metal up that was on the runway piercing the fuel tank, the fuel then being set alight by the engines!
The loose piece of metal was left on the runway by a Continental DC-10 that had taken off a few minutes before Concorde did. When Concorde ran over that piece of metal, it punctured the tires on the left main landing gear. One large piece of tire rubber slammed into the underside of the wing. It didn’t actually go through the wing, but it generated a shockwave inside the fuel tanks which was what caused one of them to rupture, allowing fuel to spill out of the left wing. Another piece of tire severed some wires inside the left main landing gear wheel housing, and as they whipped around in the airstream, they created a spark that ignited that fuel and started a fire.
Excellent Video. The British Airways Concorde was a fantastic aircraft to work on. Equally so were all the work colleagues . The majority of my aviation career was spent as an avionics Tech at Heathrow on the fleet.
When they were testing Concorde, a guy stayed with my grandmother and mum and his job was to record what and if any affects it had flying over St Davids cathedral.
One of the big highlights of the International air tattoo during its heyday was the arrival and departure of Concorde, the whole air show stopped for it, one of the few aircraft that even other aircrews stopped to watch.
The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 had been involved in 55 accidents and incidents, including 32 hull-loss accidents, with 1,261 occupant fatalities including contributing entirely to the loss of a Concorde. Continental Airlines Flight 55, operated by a DC-10-30 registered as N13067, shed a strip of metal from the thrust reverser cowl door of the right engine, which landed on the runway at Charles de Gaulle Airport upon takeoff. Minutes later, Air France Flight 4590, operated by a Concorde, ran over the metal strip at high speed, bursting a tire and causing a fuel tank to rupture and burst into flames. The Concorde's pilots attempted to keep control of the aircraft, but it stalled and crashed. The strip of metal was traced to third-party replacement parts not approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.
This goes to show that there is no such thing as a technological failure. There's always a human error at the very beginning of every accident chain. I recall the day. Seeing this beautiful aircraft and her pilot trying everything in their power to stay airborne yet failing was such a heartbreaking sight. And the most cruel part about the accident is how graceful she looked even with her tail section on fire.
Sadly it was only the quantity of fuel in the tank that actually caused the tank to rupture. It was full to the top due to a longer than normal taxi time. This extended taxi time never eventuated and Concorde proceeded to takeoff. The tank rupture from the inside out due to fluid dynamics and shock waves traveling in a fluid which due to being full caused the shockwave of the impact to bounce back to the impact point. The failure of the tank couldn't be replicated with a lower fuel volume, only occurred when completely full.
Spitting image included a line in their sketch about Regans election which said… that they’d believe pigs and even DC10’s can fly but the couldn’t believe that Ronald Reagan was President….
I think that was a development of something that was on one of the V Bombers to allow the crew to escape at speed and altitude - still nothing like hitting an airstream at Mach 2 though. The G force as you were slowed down by air resistance must have been horrific.
@@johnmurrell3175 Probably wouldn't be able to breathe till you slowed down, that said you'd struggle to breathe at cruising altitude anyway so you better hope you fall fast.
I looked at the details of those who ejected at over Mach 1 from fighter planes and it appears the survival rate is quite small so the chances of you going down a chute in ordinary flight overalls possibly without a helmet are pretty low. I suspect despite what was said the escape hatch was only of use at slow speeds and reasonable altitudes.
I remember seeing it a few days later at Duxford and a friend and I were allowed to sit in th pilots seat and a person telling us not to touch anything as it was still live! I never realised then that I would fly to eventually in a Concorde to Cairo to then see the Pyramids and back in one day!
Great video. Very informative. Thanks for making this sort of thing. Could this be another aircraft for the "in the cockpit" experience as you've done with the Vulcan and Spitfire?
Air France #4590 tragedy was NOT the result of an engine failure. Debris on runway struck the plane causing a rupture in the fuel tanks . A fire ignited which caused a engine fire warning in the cockpit . The flight engineer shut down the engine. the landing gear would not go up and the plane became un balanced due to the large amounts of fuel leaking from one side.
It was not an engine failure that killed the Air France Concorde it was a metal wheel part dropped by a previous aircraft using the runway that was thrown up and punctured the wing fuel tank.
Its a very distant memory now, and feels like a lifetime ago. But as a young kid, id go with my grandad to the shereton skyline hotel bc there was a model shop inside he loved. But i remember coming out of said hotel, hearing a colossal noise, looking up and right and seeing concorde bursting into the air in full reheat. It must of been less than a year before the fatal crash. I'll never forget it tho, along with seeing xh558 fly.
In the late 70s and early 80s my mates and I used to go to Heathrow and watch her take off and land anytime we could. In the late 90s I had a friend who lived the other side of Heathrow and Concorde would go across the road I used to get to the maintenance hangers. If you were lucky and at the front of the queue, you were only about 20-30ft away from her. There's not many machines that bring a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye like Concorde a Spitfire or a Vulcan howl. Whenever I think of those girls, especially Concorde, I always get a pang of a lost first love, that was taken from you...by a bloody Frenchman 😕
Please update the video and correct the statement "an engine failed" this was NOT the cause of the air France disaster. A sad day for an amazing plane, but for from an engine failure. Rest well speedbird an amazing aircraft, my father had the pleasure of flying on and speaks so excitedly about the performance to this day
I know it sounds small. But to get that nose working like that, as a small group of conservation engineers, is one heck of an achievement. To think my kids can go see this in action one day will be a real inspiration. I've taken them to Aerospace Bristol and they loved it. Making the next generation excited about STEM is what is going to keep Britain going. So congrats. Its more important than you could ever imagine.
At age 15, on 24 July 1969, I got a look at one of the first Concorde prototype at Orly Airport, Paris. I got into the car park and the proto was only about 25 feet/9 meters away from me, separated by a simple chainlink/hurricane fence. Got some fine pictures. Saw no guards around her.
The two early photos of John Dunlevy. Are unbelievable your twin brother would have to be Jeff Beck the famous English guitar player.. uncanny... great documentary
I used to live on th outskirts of Westbury-on-trym, one of my most memorable moments is seeing to top sufrace of Concorde in flight from my living room window as it departed Filton, banking, gestimate 15-20 degrees to get out over The British Channel. I'm ambivalent about not having a camera to hand, chances are if I had I'd have missed the whole event.
Who here remembers Phil Collins appearing on Live Aid Feed the World concert, performing both in England & America all thanks to the power & speed of Concorde? 🤔
