Concorde: Engineering Marvel and Tragic End

The promise of supersonic travel

• First revealed to the public in 1969, Concorde promised to cut London–New York travel time from 7 hours 40 minutes to about 3 hours 25 minutes.
• Developed jointly by Britain’s BAC and France’s Aérospatiale, it was funded by the two governments at a reported cost of $2.8 billion.
• Though commercially unsuccessful, Concorde remains a landmark of aviation engineering: no other passenger aircraft has matched its supersonic service.

How Concorde was engineered

Engines and airflow

• Concorde used Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 engines, adapted from engines developed for the Avro Vulcan.
• Afterburners, called “reheat” by British engineers, added thrust by burning fuel in the hot exhaust.
• Two adjustable nozzles managed airflow and thrust across subsonic and supersonic speeds. Their combined shape acted as a converging-diverging nozzle, accelerating exhaust efficiently.
• Adjustable inlet ramps and doors slowed and compressed incoming supersonic air before it reached the engines, preventing damaging shock waves.
• At cruise, the inlet’s compression helped raise the engine’s pressure ratio to about 80:1, supporting high thermal efficiency despite the enormous fuel demands of supersonic flight.

Wings, nose, and landing protection

• Concorde’s ogival delta wings used shaped airflow vortices to generate extra lift at the high angles of attack needed for takeoff and landing.
• A movable droop nose lowered by up to 12.5° so pilots could see the runway. A heat-resistant visor protected the forward windows during supersonic cruise.
• An extendable tail landing gear helped protect the engines from striking the runway during steep takeoffs and landings.

Heat, materials, and fuel

• At cruise, the aircraft’s nose reached roughly 130°C, and the airframe expanded by about 20 cm on each flight.
• Engineers used a specially adapted aluminium alloy, Hiduminium RR58, and designed sliding panels, flexible wiring, and corrugated components to accommodate expansion.
• Heat cycles also degraded fuel-tank sealant. Inspecting and replacing it was part of major maintenance performed roughly every 1,100 flying hours.
• Concorde carried about 119,000 litres of fuel in 13 tanks. During acceleration toward Mach 2, fuel was transferred rearward to shift the centre of gravity and counter the wing’s backward-moving centre of pressure—without adding drag from large control surfaces.

Air France Flight 4590: what happened

• On 25 July 2000, Flight 4590 began its takeoff from Charles de Gaulle Airport carrying 100 passengers and nine crew.
• Shortly after the aircraft passed the point at which it could safely abort, a loud bang was heard. The left-side engines lost thrust, the aircraft failed to gain altitude, and it crashed into a hotel.
• Investigators combined flight-recorder data, cockpit audio, runway evidence, and wreckage analysis to reconstruct the accident.

The chain of events

1. A titanium wear strip had fallen from a Continental DC-10 that used the same runway shortly before Concorde.
2. Concorde’s left tire struck the strip and burst.
3. The tire debris hit the underside of a full fuel tank, causing a pressure wave that ruptured the tank.
4. Fuel leaked at an estimated 60 kg per second and ignited, producing a large fire.
5. The fire and resulting loss of engine power left the aircraft unable to climb and control its descent.

The investigation found the tank rupture was caused by pressure and deformation, not by the tire fragment directly puncturing the tank. The wreckage’s fracture surfaces helped experts identify the failure mechanism.

Aftermath and legacy

• The accident prompted plans for tank liners, reinforced or relocated potential ignition sources, and more damage-resistant tires.
• A legal dispute between Air France and Continental continued for years and concluded with a 2010 ruling that fined Continental €1 million.
• The crash, combined with high operating costs and weak demand, contributed to the end of Concorde service by British Airways and Air France in 2003.
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