Debris May Have Triggered Concorde Crash
Aug. 10, 2000 -- Investigators say a stray piece of metal on the runway may have slashed a tire on Air France’s Concorde,triggering a chain of events that caused last month’s crash.
The Accident and Inquiry Office, a branch of the French Transportation Ministry, said today the metal strip, later found aside the runway at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, appears to fit the shape of a cut in one of the tires. “It is probable that this piece [of metal] caused the cut,” the office said in a statement.
Experts are trying to confirm that the piece of metal caused the tire damage, it said.
It’s not yet clear where the 16-inch-long metal strip came from, though investigators have said they do not believe it is a Concorde part.
Chain of Events Described
The agency said the tire burst as the supersonic airliner sped along the runway toward takeoff at nearly 200 mph, throwing up pieces of rubber weighing as much as nine pounds with massive force.
“According to a process which has yet to be determined, one or several fuel tanks on the left wing were very rapidly damaged, causing a major fuel leak and the fire,” the agency said. The Concorde has seven fuel tanks on each wing.
It is the first time the French investigative agency has given a clear scenario of the chain of events that caused the airliner to crash in flames into a hotel in the town of Gonesse minutes after taking off forNew York on July 25.
All 109 people on board and four on the ground were killed.
Air France’s five remaining supersonic Concorde jetliners have been grounded since the crash, though British Airways’ fleet of seven Concordes continue to fly.
French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot has said the Air France Concordes will not fly again until experts understand exactly what caused the accident.
Investigators, officials with the Transport Ministry and Air France executives are scheduled to meet Friday morning. Officials have hinted they may reach a decision on whether to resume Air France’s Concorde flights and, if so, whether to add new safety procedures.
Meanwhile, investigators have resumed gathering debris from the crash site. The work had been temporarily halted a week ago after cancer-causing asbestos from the doomed aircraft was found in the engines, officials said.
Design Questions
The crash and subsequent investigation have raised questions about the design of the Concorde, the world’s fastest commercial jet.
Since entering service in 1976, the Concorde has been revered as one of the safest jets in service. Until last month, it was never involved in a fatal accident.
But a ruptured tire on a Concorde can be especially serious, experts say, because of the aircraft’s unique design, which allows it to cruise at twice the speed of sound.
Unlike in most commercial jets, the Concorde’s rear tires are located directly below the wing fuel tanks, and in close proximity to the engines.
“One of the biggest problems here is the location of the wheel assembly, vs. the engine and engine intakes,” says ABCNEWS aviation analyst John Nance. “They couldn’t be more catastrophically co-located.”
He notes that two of the four tires under each wing of the aircraft are positioned just forward of the area where the engines suck in air.
“What’s going to happen if you peel a tire or blow a tire, is debris is going to go up and go right through that vacuum,” says Nance.
History of Blowouts
In fact, early in the service life of the aircraft, Concorde jets suffered a series of tire blowouts, including at least two in 1979, one in 1980 and one in 1981 at airports in the United States.
The most serious incident occurred at Washington’s Dulles International Airport in June 1979, when two tires blew out on the left landing gear. Debris punctured three fuel tanks, severed hydraulic lines and electrical wires, and damaged an engine. Fuel poured out of the wing, but the aircraft didn’t catch fire.
ABCNEWS’ Gaelle Drevet in London, ABCNEWS.com’s David Ruppe, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.