A1FlyBoy
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LONDON –– A British Airways Concorde flying from London to New York turned back Monday after a power surge forced the shutdown of one of the supersonic jet's four engines, 11 miles above the Atlantic Ocean, the airline said.
The plane flew back to London's Heathrow airport at sub-sonic speed and landed safely. No one was injured, and the airline said there was never any danger for the 59 people aboard.
But it was the second engine problem for the aging aircraft in the eight months since Concorde returned to the skies following a devastating crash near Paris that killed 113 people.
Flight BA001 was flying at 1,300 mph when one of the plane's four engines experienced a "surge" of power, making it hard for the plane to fly in a straight line, British Airways spokesman Richard Goodfellow said.
The pilot decided to shut down the engine and return to London – though he could have continued safely to New York on three engines at sub-sonic speed, Goodfellow said.
Goodfellow said the plane did not have to make an emergency landing at Heathrow, west of London, and no other incoming flights were delayed to make way for the Concorde.
"It was some sort of technical issue in the engine," he said. "It will be fully investigated by engineering this afternoon."
In July 2000, an Air France Concorde crashed near Paris, killing 113 people and halting all Concorde flights for more than a year.
Since the plane was brought back into service in November 2001, Concorde has experienced at least one other difficulty with its engines. In March, a scheduled British Airways flight to New York abandoned takeoff after a computer error caused an engine to accelerate too quickly.
Air France and British Airways, the only two airlines that operate Concorde, revamped their Concorde fleets to address safety concerns following the July 25, 2000, crash. Both fleets were grounded after the accident.
The crash was the supersonic plane's first in 31 years of service. Investigators say a stray strip of metal on the runway punctured a tire, propelling bits of rubber into the fuel tank and starting a fire.
Aviation experts have designed durable new radial tires that would burst into lighter, more flexible fragments if a blowout occurred. Engineers have also installed fuel tank liners, designed to prevent leaks if the plane's wing is ruptured. The liners are made in part with Kevlar – a fiber used in bulletproof vests.
The plane flew back to London's Heathrow airport at sub-sonic speed and landed safely. No one was injured, and the airline said there was never any danger for the 59 people aboard.
But it was the second engine problem for the aging aircraft in the eight months since Concorde returned to the skies following a devastating crash near Paris that killed 113 people.
Flight BA001 was flying at 1,300 mph when one of the plane's four engines experienced a "surge" of power, making it hard for the plane to fly in a straight line, British Airways spokesman Richard Goodfellow said.
The pilot decided to shut down the engine and return to London – though he could have continued safely to New York on three engines at sub-sonic speed, Goodfellow said.
Goodfellow said the plane did not have to make an emergency landing at Heathrow, west of London, and no other incoming flights were delayed to make way for the Concorde.
"It was some sort of technical issue in the engine," he said. "It will be fully investigated by engineering this afternoon."
In July 2000, an Air France Concorde crashed near Paris, killing 113 people and halting all Concorde flights for more than a year.
Since the plane was brought back into service in November 2001, Concorde has experienced at least one other difficulty with its engines. In March, a scheduled British Airways flight to New York abandoned takeoff after a computer error caused an engine to accelerate too quickly.
Air France and British Airways, the only two airlines that operate Concorde, revamped their Concorde fleets to address safety concerns following the July 25, 2000, crash. Both fleets were grounded after the accident.
The crash was the supersonic plane's first in 31 years of service. Investigators say a stray strip of metal on the runway punctured a tire, propelling bits of rubber into the fuel tank and starting a fire.
Aviation experts have designed durable new radial tires that would burst into lighter, more flexible fragments if a blowout occurred. Engineers have also installed fuel tank liners, designed to prevent leaks if the plane's wing is ruptured. The liners are made in part with Kevlar – a fiber used in bulletproof vests.
