Stranded Concorde Back in France

R O I S S Y, France, Sept. 21 -- An Air France Concorde that had beenstranded in New York since one of the supersonic jets crashedoutside Paris in July roared into Charles de Gaulle airport onThursday to an ecstatic welcome by airline employees.

The flight could be the last for a Concorde. The future of whatwas the pride of French and British aviation is still under acloud, even though French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssotsaid this month that it was his deep conviction that the Concordewould eventually return to the skies.

About 150 Air France employees raised their hands above theirheads so the pilot could see as the Concorde—without passengers -stopped in front of the airline’s headquarters at the airportoutside Paris. The pilot waved back.

“It’s a symbol for us. It’s not an airplane that every companyhas,” said Marie-Pierre Clegnac, a secretary at Air France.

On the tarmac, the ground crew gathered and clapped as the planeapproached. Its loud roar could be heard long before the Concordetouched down shortly before 6 p.m. Inside Air France headquarters,people gathered at the windows to watch and one man captured themoment on videotape.

Air France grounded its fleet of sleek jets immediately afterthe July 25 crash, in which 113 people died. The Concorde that flewinto Paris Thursday had remained at New York’s Kennedy Airport,unable to return to France.

British Airways, the other airline with a Concorde fleet, keptits Concordes flying until shortly before the jets’ airworthinesscertificate was withdrawn in mid-August.

Gayssot, the French transport minister, said the Concordes willfly again only after appropriate safety measures have been put inplace.

In its statement, Air France said it wanted to be “be able tomaintain this plane, like the other four planes of the Concordefleet, in optimal conditions, which can only be provided by themaintenance services at the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport,”which is outside Paris.