Off topic - Concorde Crashes Outside Paris
July 25, 2000
Filed at 11:23 a.m. EDT
By The Associated Press
PARIS (AP) -- An Air France Concorde crashed outside Paris shortly after
takeoff Tuesday, slamming into a hotel in the town of Gonesse, firefighters
said.
There was not immediate word on the fate of the passengers and crew.
France's LCI television quoted eyewitnesses as saying the aircraft was not
able to gain sufficient altitude before it crashed, and that police were keeping
onlookers away from the site.
No other details were immediately available.
The plane was en route from Paris to New York when it went down.
The Concorde, which crosses the Atlantic at 1,350 mph, has been considered
among the world's safest planes. Its only major scare came in 1979, when a
bad landing blew out a plane's tires. The incident led to a design modification.
The plane is popular with celebrities, world-class athletes and the rich. It flies
above turbulence at nearly 60,000 feet, crossing the Atlantic in about 3 1/2
hours, less than half that of regular jetliners.
The first Concorde plane flew in 1969. Now, 13 of the needle-nosed
supersonic jets are operated by Air France and British Airways. A roundtrip
Paris-New York ticket costs $9,000, roughly 25 percent more than regular
first class. A London-New York roundtrip runs $9,850.
Air France officials have said in the past that their current fleet is fit to fly
safely until 2007.
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company |
