The Air france Concorde crash was surely a cover up wasn't it?

Question

Concordes only disaster that marked the beginning of the end in 2000 was investigated by BEA the french investigation organistion. British authorities had limited access to the investigation, nobody in the french airport was allowed to say anything. Also eye witness accounts from three firemen on the ground (the closest to the aircraft) reported flames from the plane near the start of the runway, hundreds of metres before the infamous 'strip of metal' that was supposed to cause the crash. Also the runway was quickly resurfaced, as it was in poor shape and believed, by some, to be the cause of the accident.

Ok so its no major conspiracy, but rather french authorities covering up for the fact that their runway needed re-surfacing, the bad surface caused a blow out well before the infamous strip of metal, as confirmed by the only eye witness presnt, the three firemen in the firestation, causing fire to bellow from the planes rear. Why else was access denied to inspect the runway afterwards and why was the surface reified soon after if not for the obvious?

The poorly surfaced section of the runway was opposite the firestation.

Another interesting fact; the stricken concorde as it left the runway was veering a lot to the left and came metres to within smacking an air france 747 which, get this, had Jacque chirac on board. Perhaps the airport and air france both had something to benefit for blaming the entire event on another airlines strip of metal?

Answer 1

I don't know where you're getting your conspiracy theories from, but let me set some of your false accusations straight.

Firstly, the French BEA called in the British AAIB and BAe aswell as Airbus in the investigation of the crash. Why??? Well, because they needed as much information on the Concorde's record as possible and used statistics from BA's fleet also to try and elimate possible causes for the accident.

There was never a blanket ban on staff at the airport. Air France asked their staff not to say anything about the crash until the families of the deceased were informed. That is a usual protocol at all major airlines in the event of an airplane crash. But controllers and firefighters alike where all interviewed in the aftermath of the accident, both in the press and by the investigative team.

And if the surface was in bad condition, then what do you suppose caused the engine fire? Let me guess....some tarmac got sucked up into the compressors? Highly unlikely.

One question for you.....what do you think caused the accident, and who was to gain from a cover-up?

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Top Marks for Da Professor!

Many of the conspiracy theories about the Concorde crash revolve around the maintenance that was carried out on one of the ill fated planes thrust reversers shortly before it crashed.

The pilot had reported that a TR was sticking and asked for it to be replaced. Initial reports following the crash blamed a closed thrust reverser for causing an explosion but were quickly silenced.

As for the French authorities ability to cover up - read and learn from the Tu-144 concordski crash as Da Professor says.

P.S. For 'Stu Kate'... interestingly enough the Rolls Royce Olympus engines that powered Concorde originated on the Avro Vulcan V Bomber and evolved through the TSR-2 (man what if that baby hadn't been scrapped) to the version flown on the Concorde. The naval version still operates as well on ships like the QE2!

Answer 4

Well considering it was an engine fire, and the mains were directly under the fuselage, behind the intakes, that's some interesting physics you describe. For a piece of tire/wheel to fly off move forward, then just happen to be in the intake envelope of the engine. A nose wheel failure could be possibly be sucked in, but only on rotation/climb out.
Finally, if resurfacing was the issue, why did Airbus 340's/747's/767's all heavier or at least the same GW as Concorde not rip up the runway beforehand?

Answer 5

I don't know the details, but I did see a documentary on the Concorde crash that showed a "different" cause, and it was very interesting. It talked about about all sorts of problems with the flight even before the supposed FOD on the runway (including veering to the left side of the runway). It was fascinating, but I'm not sure where the data for the show came from. Does anyone else recall seeing that program?

Answer 6

I remember seeing a documentary in which they talked specifically about the problem that concorde has always had with its tires. Most passenger jets have a take off speed around 140 knots (kts.) And so, that is the range for which their tires are designed. The concorde, on the other hand, has a take off speed of aroung 240 kts. According to this documentary, allthough the concorde's TOS was about 100 kts greater, they never used any special tires. Apperantly, they just used the 140 kts rated tires and were suppossed to have them changed more often! If this is the case, it seems to me that the airlines were just inviting catastrophe, metal strip or no!

Answer 7

I thought they had already stated it was either FOD or a part of the tire that punctured a fuel tank, which caused the fire? I don't think this crash had the direct effect of grounding the Concorde. OH for a short time, but the writing was on the wall before the crash.........

Answer 8

The Concorde's engines where afterburning supercruise engines developed for the British TSR-2 before it got canned. Most afterburning engines have a visible flame from the exhaust as extra fuel is burnt directly in the exhaust duct.

Answer 9

I doubt cover ups as they usually grasp at the thinnest of straws for evidence like this proposed cover up. The Concorde was on it's way out when the accident occurred. the accident only sped up the inevitable. The planes never made any money and that is after all the point of a business to make money that which doesn't make money gets the Axe.

Answer 10

Here is a pointer for all of you who answered this question as well as the (un)learned person who asked it: put tupolev tu144 into your search engine - interesting tale involving the Russian 'Concordski' & the Air France disaster.

N.B. This does not involve irradiated Russian spies, or Zillionaire Russian Football club owners who have more money than sense! Oops, silly me, now the wrong category! Over to the Soapbox questions....

STOP PRESS: as mentioned, check out tsr2 on search engine - fantastic aircraft - 2 airframes survive - Supersonic on just ONE engine, on test left lightning chase aircraft for dust! Now thats RESPECT!