 Flight 4590 during takeoff | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 25 July 2000 |
| Summary | Crashed on takeoff following debris strike and in-flight fire |
| Site | Gonesse, France 48°59′08″N 2°28′20″E / 48.98556°N 2.47222°E |
| Total fatalities | 113 |
| Total injuries | 6 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Concorde |
| Operator | Air France |
| IATA flight No. | AF4590 |
| ICAO flight No. | AFR4590 |
| Call sign | AIR FRANS 4590 |
| Registration | F-BTSC |
| Flight origin | Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France |
| Destination | John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, United States |
| Occupants | 109 |
| Passengers | 100 |
| Crew | 9 |
| Fatalities | 109 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Ground casualties | |
| Ground fatalities | 4 |
| Ground injuries | 6 |
On 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde passenger jet on an international charter flight from Paris to New York, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 109 people on board and four on the ground. It was the only fatal Concorde accident during its 27-year operational history.[1]
Whilst taking off from Charles de Gaulle Airport, Air France Flight 4590 ran over debris on the runway dropped by an aircraft during the preceding departure, causing a tyre to explode and disintegrate. Tyre fragments, launched upwards at great speed by the rapidly spinning wheel, violently struck the underside of the wing, damaging parts of the landing gear – thus preventing its retraction – and causing the integral fuel tank to rupture. Large amounts of fuel leaking from the rupture ignited, causing a loss of thrust in the left-hand-side engines 1 and 2. The aircraft lifted off, but the loss of thrust, high drag from the extended landing gear, and fire damage to the flight controls made it impossible to maintain control. The jet crashed into a hotel in nearby Gonesse two minutes after takeoff. All nine crew and 100 passengers on board were killed, as well as four people in the hotel. Four other people sustained slight injuries.[2][3]
In the wake of the disaster, the entire Concorde fleet was grounded. It returned to service on November 7, 2001, following the implementation of various modifications to the airframe, but to limited commercial success, especially in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Concorde aircraft were finally retired by Air France in May 2003 and by British Airways in November of the same year.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Aérospatiale / BAC Concorde 101 F-BTSC Gonesse". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
- ^ Barry, Ben (5 September 2019). "How Concorde Pushed the Limits – Then Pushed Them Too Far – Disaster and Aftermath". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
- ^ "Accident on 25 July 2000 at La Patte d'Oie in Gonesse (95) to the Concorde registered F-BTSC operated by Air France (REPORT translation f-sc000725a)" (PDF). Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety. 16 January 2002. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.