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Russian
00:00:00
it took 121 seconds00:00:03
a more than 30-year long almost spotless00:00:06
safety record a race within minutes as00:00:09
the aerospace ale bac concord crashed00:00:12
into a hotel just west of charles de00:00:14
gaulle airport in paris but what exactly00:00:17
happened and during the time leading up00:00:19
to the flight using the final report i00:00:21
will now tell you the story of the00:00:23
beginning of the end of the concord stay00:00:25
tuned00:00:31
a huge thank you to curiositystream for00:00:33
sponsoring this video00:00:34
air france flight 4590 was actually a00:00:37
shorter flight it was scheduled to fly00:00:39
from charles de gaulle airport in paris00:00:42
france over towards jfk international in00:00:45
new york united states00:00:47
once they landed in new york the00:00:49
passengers who were mainly german but00:00:51
other nationalities as well were00:00:52
supposed to get onto a cruise ship that00:00:54
would take them down to ecuador in south00:00:57
america making this probably a one in a00:00:59
lifetime trip00:01:01
there was 100 passengers scheduled for00:01:03
the flight and six cabin crew and three00:01:06
pilots00:01:07
the aircraft being flown was the00:01:08
legendary aerospace bac concorde one of00:01:12
the most beautiful aircraft ever00:01:14
constructed and a feat of engineering00:01:17
the concord first flew on the 2nd of00:01:18
march 1969 and during its more than00:01:21
30-year tenure it had never suffered a00:01:24
fatal accident00:01:26
there are a couple of things that you00:01:27
need to understand technically about the00:01:29
concorde in order for this story to make00:01:31
sense if we start with the wing design00:01:34
we've all seen these beautiful pictures00:01:37
of the concord flying with their00:01:38
fantastic delta wing now the reason that00:01:41
the engineers use the delta wing for the00:01:43
concord is because a delta wing will00:01:45
work well both in the subsonic transonic00:01:48
and supersonic speed ranges00:01:51
the issue with the delta window is that00:01:53
in order for it to provide enough lift00:01:55
for takeoff and landing you need to have00:01:57
both a very high speed00:02:00
and also a quite high angle of attack00:02:04
just to give you an example a boeing 73700:02:07
would generally take off at the speed of00:02:09
around00:02:11
140-150 knots00:02:12
the concorde on the other hand needed00:02:15
about 200 knots and this is really00:02:16
important because those type of speeds00:02:18
would put an enormous stress on the00:02:21
tires being used on the aircraft in fact00:02:23
the concorde during its 30 years of00:02:25
operation had had 57 tire bursts 12 of00:02:30
those had caused structural issues with00:02:33
the aircraft as pieces of tire had been00:02:35
thrown up towards the underside of the00:02:37
wing and in six cases the wing tanks had00:02:40
actually been penetrated the most00:02:43
serious of those incidents happened back00:02:44
in 1979 where a concord taking off from00:02:47
washington in the united states had a00:02:49
tire burst during takeoff pieces of the00:02:52
tire penetrated the uh the lower part of00:02:55
the wing and one of the wing tanks00:02:56
causing a small fuel leak and also it00:02:59
brought damages to the hydraulic system00:03:02
making it impossible to retract the gear00:03:04
after that incident a major00:03:06
investigation was launched into the00:03:07
airworthiness of the concorde and a lot00:03:09
of recommendations were made mainly00:03:11
towards strengthening of the tires being00:03:13
used and the protection of the hydraulic00:03:16
systems in the landing gear but there00:03:17
was also00:03:19
some evaluations about the risk of fire00:03:22
but the investigation team felt that the00:03:24
amount of fuel that could escape from a00:03:27
fuel leak caused by00:03:29
entire debris was relatively small and00:03:32
hence the risk of fire was very small as00:03:35
well another thing that you need to00:03:36
understand about the concord is that it00:03:38
has a quite complicated fuel system00:03:40
consisting of 13 tanks 12 of which is00:03:44
housed in the wings and the body of the00:03:47
aircraft and the 13th tank that is00:03:49
situated towards the very back of the00:03:52
body and that tank is used as a trim00:03:54
tank where the pilots can transfer fuel00:03:57
into or out of depending on where they00:03:59
want the center of gravity of the00:04:01
aircraft to be which is really important00:04:03
especially during takeoff the engines on00:04:05
the concorde were four olympus twin00:04:07
spool turbo jet engines that was00:04:09
situated towards the back of the delta00:04:12
wing just outside and slightly behind00:04:15
the main landing gear they had variable00:04:17
air intakes in order to be able to fly00:04:19
in supersonic flight and they also had00:04:21
secondary air intakes on the lower side00:04:24
slightly behind the main air intakes and00:04:27
those air intakes are actually going to00:04:28
play a quite important role in this00:04:30
story all of the four engines also were00:04:32
equipped with full reheat or afterburner00:04:35
capability giving the aircraft a further00:04:37
18 of trust during the takeoff00:04:40
the flight departed on the 25th of july00:04:43
2000 and already from the start there00:04:46
were some problems00:04:47
originally another concorde was00:04:49
scheduled to do the flight but they00:04:51
changed over to this individual during00:04:54
the night and when the dispatcher00:04:57
started doing the planning for the00:04:58
flight he realized that there was a00:05:00
technical issue with this concorde00:05:03
specifically to one of the thrust00:05:04
traverses00:05:06
now it was not a problem that would keep00:05:08
the aircraft on the ground but it had a00:05:11
performance penalty and that performance00:05:13
penalty would potentially lead to a need00:05:16
for a fuel stop on route on top of that00:05:20
most of the passengers were german00:05:22
citizens and i had flown in from germany00:05:24
earlier and there had been some kind of00:05:27
problem in the air france system when it00:05:29
came to checking in both the passengers00:05:32
and the bags so a lot of the passengers00:05:34
in the bag were actually not on the00:05:35
passenger manifest when the dispatcher00:05:38
started to do the load sheet he went00:05:40
with this information to the flight00:05:41
group when they arrived and the flight00:05:43
crew said that they would take care of00:05:45
the flight planning from that point the00:05:46
way they did this was they they00:05:48
contacted engineering department at air00:05:50
france asked them if they could possibly00:05:52
fix the trust reverser they got a00:05:55
positive response on that and then they00:05:57
proceeded with the pre-flight eventually00:05:59
the passenger discrepancy was thought to00:06:02
be fixed but they ended up with 19 more00:06:05
bags on board than what the00:06:07
load manifest would show00:06:10
giving them a little bit more weight00:06:12
around 1400 utcs that's 1600 local time00:06:15
in paris the flight crew started to do00:06:18
their pre-flight inspections inside of00:06:20
the cockpit now the crew flying00:06:22
consisted of a captain who was a 54 year00:06:24
old male with 1300:06:26
477 hours of total time on which 317 was00:06:30
flown on the concorde the captain was00:06:33
scheduled to be the pilot flying for00:06:35
this flight and the pilot monitoring was00:06:36
going to be the first officer00:06:38
he was a 50 year old male with 10 03500:06:41
hours and00:06:43
2698 hours on the concorde and he was00:06:45
also a simulator instructor on the00:06:47
concorde joining them on the flight tech00:06:49
was also a very experienced flight00:06:51
engineer who's 58 years old male with 1200:06:55
532 hours of total time and 937 hours on00:06:58
the concord so this was a very00:07:00
experienced flight crew which was00:07:02
typical for the air france concord00:07:04
cruise which was a very tight little00:07:06
group consisting of only about 30 pilots00:07:10
as the flight crew starts preparing the00:07:12
aircraft for flight the engineer comes00:07:15
back up to them informing the captain00:07:17
that the trust reverse is now fully00:07:19
functional which means that they can00:07:20
upload as much fuel as they need in00:07:22
order to fly directly towards new york00:07:24
and they settle on a final fuel figure00:07:25
of 95 tons00:07:28
the crew starts discussing that this is00:07:30
going to bring the aircraft up to a00:07:32
weight which is very close to their00:07:34
maximum structural weight for departure00:07:37
and when they do the calculation of00:07:39
their performance figures they settle on00:07:41
a v1 speed of 150 knots00:07:45
v rotation speed of 198 knots and a v200:07:48
which is the endian out speed of 22000:07:51
knots the dispatcher comes in with the00:07:53
final figures for departure and he tells00:07:55
the crew that he has calculated on a00:07:57
taxi fuel burn of about two tons this is00:08:01
later going to turn out to be way too00:08:03
much but we'll get to that in a second00:08:04
at time 1425 everything is ready for00:08:07
departure the cabin crew has given cabin00:08:09
secure all of the passengers are sitting00:08:11
down00:08:12
and the flight crew receives their00:08:14
startup clearance they start up the00:08:16
concord engines in sequence00:08:18
three two00:08:20
and then four and one00:08:22
and once the startup sequence is00:08:24
complete they ask for taxi clearance the00:08:28
runway used in this day is runway 2-600:08:30
right which is one of the longest00:08:31
runways in shelder gold so the air00:08:33
traffic controller asks the concorde if00:08:36
they are able to take an intersection00:08:38
takeoff00:08:39
but given their very high weight the00:08:41
captain instead asks to get full length00:08:43
departure runway 2-6 right they received00:08:46
their tax clearance to start taxing down00:08:48
tax away romeo to holding point runway00:08:50
26 right and at time 1435 utc00:08:54
the aircraft starts moving down towards00:08:56
the holding point as they're taxiing out00:08:59
now the crew continues with their00:09:00
pre-departure preparation00:09:03
as part of that the first officer00:09:05
realizes that one of the electrical00:09:07
control systems for the rudder keeps00:09:09
jumping out of its primary control00:09:11
system into its backup control system he00:09:14
comments this to the flight engineer he00:09:16
says hey you got the indicators going00:09:19
into green all the time and the flight00:09:21
engineer responds back to that that yeah00:09:23
that's true they discussed this a little00:09:25
bit they decide to go back into the00:09:28
primary control system anyway and the00:09:30
flight engineer says that if this00:09:31
problem continues or happens during the00:09:33
takeover well then we'll just ignore it00:09:36
because this is a dispatchable fault and00:09:38
it's not going to have any impact on the00:09:39
flight during this taxi out as well00:09:41
about four minutes prior to departure00:09:43
they initiate a fuel transfer from fuel00:09:45
tank 11 which is at the very back of the00:09:47
aircraft towards the feeder tanks in00:09:49
order to get the center of gravity of00:09:51
the aircraft to 5400:09:53
which is the sweet spot for takeoff at00:09:55
maximum takeoff weight this fuel00:09:57
transfer was successfully completed a00:09:58
few minutes prior to departure at the00:10:01
same time as this is happening a dc-1000:10:03
from continental airlines is lining up00:10:05
and taking off runway 26 right the same00:10:07
runway that the concorde is just about00:10:09
to take off from during the takeoff roll00:10:12
a short metal strip about 43 centimeters00:10:15
falls off the right-hand engine of the00:10:18
dc-1000:10:20
there are no indications in the cockpit00:10:22
about this there's no warnings and the00:10:24
crew just continues to fly towards the00:10:26
destination00:10:28
because this happens only a few minutes00:10:30
prior to the concord departure there are00:10:31
no runway inspections that could have00:10:33
picked this up in fact in france at the00:10:35
time there was only mandated two runway00:10:37
inspections per day00:10:39
the concorde is now taxing and getting00:10:41
closer to the holding position on romeo00:10:44
from with 2-6 right and the captain does00:10:46
a take-off briefing now this is00:10:48
something that we always tend to do00:10:49
where we do a little bit of a quick00:10:51
summary of the most important points00:10:54
before we depart00:10:55
and the captain says00:10:57
so the takeoff is at maximum takeoff00:10:59
weight 180 tons 100 which means 400:11:03
reheats with maximum n2 of 103 and a00:11:06
failure n2 of 98 between 0 and 100 knots00:11:10
i stopped for any oral warning and the00:11:12
tire flash and the tire flash and the00:11:14
call out is coming from you right00:11:17
between 100 knots and v1 i ignore the00:11:19
gong i stopped for an engine fire a tire00:11:22
flash and a failure call out after we00:11:24
won we will continue on the standard00:11:26
instrument departure as we just talked00:11:28
about and will land back on runway 2 600:11:30
right so this is a pretty standard00:11:32
take-off briefing from a captain it00:11:34
outlines what the crew are expected to00:11:37
do in case of a rejected takeoff in the00:11:39
low speed regime which in this case in00:11:41
the concorde is between 0 knots and 10000:11:43
knots they basically stop for anything00:11:45
the gong that they're referring to is00:11:47
what would be equivalent to a master00:11:49
caution warning in a boeing it's just a00:11:51
oral warning that some kind of failure00:11:54
has occurred it might not be a00:11:57
critical failure00:11:58
and then from 100 knots up to v1 they're00:12:01
a little bit more restrictive because00:12:02
they're now in the high speed regime of00:12:04
the takeoff so from that point they only00:12:06
stop before00:12:08
and your fire warning a failure warning00:12:10
in this case also what they call a tire00:12:12
flash a tire flash is a warning light00:12:15
that comes on if the system feels a00:12:17
sudden loss of pressure in one of the00:12:19
tires now in the boeing that i fly we do00:12:23
not stop for a burst tire above 80 knots00:12:27
but in the concord case it has proven to00:12:29
be a much bigger problem so it's00:12:31
included in one of those critical00:12:32
failures that they will stop for in the00:12:34
high speed regime and above v1 they are00:12:37
committed to the takeoff so all pilots00:12:40
are trained that off the v1 if you would00:12:42
reject at that point you will do a00:12:43
potential catastrophic runway excursion00:12:45
so instead we bring the aircraft into00:12:48
the air sort out any problem and in this00:12:50
case the discussion coming back to land00:12:52
at the very long runway 26 right again00:12:55
in paris but as we're about to learn the00:12:57
failure that these pilots are about to00:12:59
experience is going to be much more00:13:02
complicated than that the captain now00:13:04
also asks the flight engineer how much00:13:06
fuel they've used during the taxi00:13:07
because remember in the load sheet they00:13:09
had two tons calculated00:13:11
the flight engineer responds with um00:13:14
we've got 800 kilos there00:13:16
so this would indicate that they're00:13:18
actually using about a ton less of taxi00:13:21
fuel and since they were already at the00:13:23
maximum takeoff weight using the two-ton00:13:26
of taxi fuel that they were supposed to00:13:27
use00:13:28
if they have used a ton less it means00:13:30
that they're now about 800 kilos above00:13:32
maximum takeoff weight the flight00:13:34
engineer at this point also says brake00:13:36
temperature is checked at 150 and the00:13:38
captain asks00:13:40
is it hotter on the left or the right00:13:42
side flight engineer says that it's00:13:44
about the same and that's going to turn00:13:46
out to be a really important statement00:13:48
for the investigation later on that time00:13:50
1442 utc the concorde was cleared to00:13:53
line up and clear for takeoff from a 2-600:13:55
right00:13:56
air traffic control gave them the00:13:58
surface wind of 090 degrees at 8 knots00:14:00
and the pilot had not calculated with00:14:02
that much tailwind in their performance00:14:05
calculations if they would have they00:14:06
would have seen that their maximum00:14:08
takeoff weight had now been reduced to00:14:10
180 tons rather than just above 185 tons00:14:14
the limiting factor here would have been00:14:16
the concorde's tire speed00:14:18
because if you take off with tailwind00:14:21
it's going to bring you up into higher00:14:23
ground speed before you get enough air00:14:26
speed to rotate the aircraft and in this00:14:29
case the tire speed would have been too00:14:31
high later investigation would show that00:14:33
this didn't have a real impact on what00:14:35
happened to this flight and i also kind00:14:37
of understand it being a pilot myself00:14:39
when you line up there's a lot of things00:14:41
that's happening at the same time and if00:14:43
you suddenly get a different wind than00:14:44
what you've calculated would for it's00:14:46
easy to miss that right but if you're a00:14:49
pilot out there it is really important00:14:51
actually to take the time and to really00:14:53
think about the wind that you're getting00:14:54
before you start your takeoff rule from00:14:56
this point onwards things are going to00:14:58
happen really really quickly and this is00:15:00
where the 121 seconds start at time 1400:15:05
42 and 30 seconds the captain advances00:15:08
the four trust levels in the cockpit00:15:10
towards off trust00:15:12
this causes the four mighty olympus00:15:14
engines to roar in the full tech of00:15:16
thrust with full reheat engaged and the00:15:19
aircraft starts accelerating down the00:15:20
runway00:15:22
24 seconds later the first officer00:15:24
called out 100 which is then followed by00:15:27
the flight engineer saying four greens00:15:30
this is indicating that each of the four00:15:33
goal lights that is associated with each00:15:35
engine showing that the engine is00:15:36
working normally and that the four00:15:38
reheats are engaged six seconds later00:15:42
the first of the calls out v1 and00:15:45
there's now no return from this take-off00:15:48
this is about 35 seconds into this00:15:50
flight at time 14 43 and 9 seconds a00:15:53
slight yaw to the left is noted on the00:15:56
flight data recorder this yaw was not00:15:59
caused by any rudder movement and at00:16:01
this point when the aircraft passed00:16:03
about 1700 meters of the runway they00:16:06
also found pieces of the water deflector00:16:09
from the left hand main gear so this00:16:12
probably represented the time when the00:16:14
concorde roll over that metal strip that00:16:16
was left behind by the dc-10 that had00:16:19
departed earlier within half a second00:16:22
noise is recorded in the cockpit voice00:16:23
recorder and that's likely coming from00:16:25
the explosion of one of the tires on the00:16:28
left main gear boogie the reason that00:16:31
the investigators thought so was because00:16:32
at this point on the runway they could00:16:34
find the metal strip and also pieces of00:16:38
tire debris one second later the00:16:40
aircraft has accelerated to a speed of00:16:42
178 knots and at this point that's about00:16:45
1810 meters into the takeoff00:16:48
a change of noise is heard in the00:16:50
cockpit what has probably happened here00:16:52
is that pieces of the exploded tire have00:16:55
been thrown up towards the underside of00:16:57
the left hand wing in the area of where00:16:59
fuel tank number five is situated00:17:02
now those pieces have impacted the wing00:17:04
with such a force that it actually00:17:06
buckled the underside of the wing00:17:08
inwards and the area around that buckle00:17:11
a little bit outwards00:17:13
causing a enormous pressure wave inside00:17:16
of the tank and since this tank was at00:17:19
this moment completely full that00:17:21
pressure wave didn't have anywhere to go00:17:23
except pushing further on the area of00:17:25
the tank next to where this piece00:17:28
impacted causing a rupture outwards of00:17:31
the fuel tank00:17:32
and the reason that investigators think00:17:34
that this is what happened is because00:17:36
they found pieces of the number five00:17:37
fuel tanks at this position on the00:17:40
runway but the pieces indicated that the00:17:42
ruptured has happened from inside of the00:17:45
fuel tank and not from the outside the00:17:47
change of noise that can be heard on the00:17:48
voice recorder it's most likely coming00:17:50
from the fact that several00:17:52
dozens liters of fuel is now gushing out00:17:56
through this hole from the number five00:17:58
fuel tank and it has gotten into contact00:18:01
with something that caused it to ignite00:18:04
what caused the fire to ignite and00:18:06
actually sustain itself is something00:18:08
that was greatly discussed in the00:18:10
subsequent investigation as well but00:18:12
most likely the tire when it exploded00:18:15
caused a breakage of some electrical00:18:17
wires in the left gear strut now those00:18:21
broken wires then caused arcing that00:18:23
ignited the flame and the fact that the00:18:25
landing gear was still extended meant00:18:27
that behind the landing gear there was a00:18:30
turbulent zone that allowed the flame to00:18:32
stabilize and maintain itself without00:18:34
being blown out by the airstream what00:18:36
happens now is that the aircraft start00:18:38
veering towards the left of the runway00:18:41
the captain counteracts with right00:18:43
rudder to maintain the cent line and00:18:44
this is not because the engines are00:18:47
starting to fail at least not at this00:18:48
point instead it is likely that this00:18:51
veering movement is coming from the00:18:53
damage made to the left-hand tires and00:18:56
also because of the aerodynamic drag00:18:58
that the flame is producing behind the00:19:00
aircraft00:19:02
two seconds later the aircraft is00:19:03
starting to lose thrust on both engine00:19:05
number one and two so both engines on00:19:07
the left-hand side in the case of the00:19:09
number one engine it's because it's00:19:10
ingesting a lot of debris from the00:19:13
broken tires so rubber things like that00:19:16
and also quite a bit of hot gases and in00:19:19
the case of engine number two which is00:19:21
the engine that's closest to the landing00:19:23
gear it is because of ingestion of hot00:19:25
gases as an engine ingests these gases00:19:28
it changes the00:19:30
pressure inside of the compressor and it00:19:33
can lead the compressor stalls which is00:19:35
what's happening here so the engine is00:19:36
basically choking on the gases00:19:39
the first officer now called out watch00:19:42
out quickly followed by the flight engineer00:19:44
calling the exact same thing watch out00:19:46
and this is likely because the two goal00:19:48
lights so engine one and two would have00:19:50
extinguished at this point as they are00:19:53
stalling and not producing the trust00:19:55
that they're supposed to do00:19:56
the aircraft is now at a speed of 18700:19:59
knots still eight knots below the00:20:00
rotation speed but because both engine00:20:04
one and two have essentially failed at00:20:06
this point and the number one is slowly00:20:08
recovering but engine number two is back00:20:11
at idle trust the aircraft is starting00:20:13
to00:20:14
jaw00:20:15
very very hard towards the left the00:20:17
captain is counteracting this but the00:20:20
aircraft is still starting to slightly00:20:22
veer off the center line we don't know00:20:25
why the captain decides to start00:20:27
rotating at this point maybe it is00:20:30
because he feels that he is about to00:20:32
exit the runway maybe it is to avoid00:20:35
other traffic that he sees further down00:20:37
on the taxiway we don't know this but00:20:40
the fact is that he does start to rotate00:20:43
the aircraft and he rotates slower than00:20:45
he would normally probably indicating00:20:48
that he's aware that the speed is not00:20:50
high enough00:20:52
as the aircraft is rotating the flight00:20:54
engineer calls out something that sounds00:20:56
like stop but it wasn't clear on the00:20:59
voice recorder but only a second later00:21:02
he calls out engine failure engine00:21:04
number two and he's calling only engine00:21:07
failure on engine number two because00:21:09
indian number one is actually starting00:21:11
to recover from those initial stalls but00:21:14
as the aircraft continues to rotate and00:21:16
the angle of the nose comes up higher00:21:18
and higher the airflow changes around00:21:21
the wings probably causing these hot00:21:23
gases once again to be ingested into00:21:26
both engine number one and engine number00:21:28
two probably using those secondary00:21:31
engine inlets that we talked about00:21:32
before and this causes further stalls00:21:35
which once again reduces the trust back00:21:37
to near idle on both of these engines00:21:40
at this point the first engine fire00:21:42
alarm also can be heard in the cockpit00:21:44
and the flight engineer responds to that00:21:46
with calling shutdown ending number two00:21:49
and the captain responds with engine00:21:51
fire procedure as this is happening the00:21:54
air traffic controller can see this all00:21:55
happening out from his viewpoint in the00:21:57
control tower and he calls out00:22:00
airfrance4590 you have flames00:22:03
you have flames trailing behind you the00:22:05
first officer reads this back the flight00:22:08
engineer is now doing the engine fire00:22:10
procedure which means that he is00:22:12
reducing the trust level back to idle on00:22:14
engine number two and he is also pulling00:22:17
and rotating the engine fire handle this00:22:20
momentarily removes the fire alarm as00:22:23
the extinguisher is likely cooling down00:22:26
the engine but it's soon coming back00:22:28
again because of the fact that the fire00:22:30
is not actually in the engine it's00:22:32
outside and the engine fire00:22:34
circuit is just feeling the increase in00:22:37
temperature from the immense fire that00:22:39
is burning outside00:22:41
while this is happening and remember00:22:43
everything that we've covered so far has00:22:44
only taken a few seconds00:22:46
there's another radio call from00:22:49
an unknown aircraft somewhere on the00:22:51
airport00:22:52
and the pilot there says on the radio00:22:55
uh it's really burning eh and00:22:58
uh it's burning and00:23:00
i'm not sure it's coming from the engine00:23:03
which is going to be very helpful00:23:04
evidence later on to the investigators00:23:07
the concorde is now finally airborne and00:23:10
just before it became airborne it ran00:23:11
over a few edge lights on the left hand00:23:14
side of the runway00:23:15
and the crew now faces the next problem00:23:18
which is their airspeed00:23:20
because they rotated at a slightly lower00:23:22
speed than they normally should have00:23:23
rotated with they're now maintaining a00:23:25
speed of 200 knots while their engine00:23:28
out climb speed is 22000:23:31
this means that with that airspeed they00:23:34
won't be able to climb or even maintain00:23:36
altitude and the first officer points it00:23:38
out by calling speed speed several times00:23:42
engine number one is now recovering00:23:44
slightly but it's heavily damaged and00:23:45
will never get back up to full thrust00:23:47
again engine number two has been shut00:23:49
down through the engine fire procedure00:23:51
that the flight engineer have just00:23:53
completed and engine number three and00:23:55
four has gone into something called a00:23:56
contingency mode which is where they are00:23:58
producing as much trust as they possibly00:24:01
can in order to counteract the loss of00:24:03
trust on one or two of the other engines00:24:06
the concorde is at an altitude of 10000:24:09
feet radio with a speed of 200 knots and00:24:12
they're climbing with about 750 feet per00:24:14
minute and at this point air traffic00:24:16
control calls them and says air france00:24:19
4590 you have large flames trailing00:24:22
behind you and you have priority to00:24:23
return back to the airfield00:24:25
the first officer reads this back and as00:24:27
he's done so the flight engineer reminds00:24:30
him to take the gear up now00:24:33
the first officer responds initially no00:24:35
to that and that's likely because he00:24:37
knows that as a procedure if there's an00:24:39
indication of a damage to the landing00:24:41
gear the concorde is not supposed to00:24:43
retract the gear but then the captain00:24:45
breaks in and gives a direct order to00:24:47
retract the gear the first officer tries00:24:50
but it is evident from the corpus voice00:24:52
recorder that he is unable to do so he00:24:55
just cannot seem to get the gear up the00:24:57
reason for this is likely because of the00:25:00
damage that has been caused by the tire00:25:03
explosion it might have damaged the00:25:05
landing gear door on the left hand side00:25:06
and because of the sequence that the00:25:08
landing gear retraction is supposed to00:25:10
follow if the landing gear door does not00:25:13
move when it's being commanded to do so00:25:15
the landing gear will stay out the00:25:17
captain now turns over to the flight00:25:19
engineer and asks him are you shutting00:25:20
down engine number two and the flight00:25:22
engineer responds with yes it is shut00:25:25
down the first officer again calls out00:25:27
airspeed speed and then the gear is not00:25:31
retracting00:25:33
at time 14 43 and 55 seconds the first00:25:37
indications of an uncommanded rule can00:25:40
be seen on the flight data recorder this00:25:41
role likely is caused by the fact that00:25:44
the fire has now been burning for a00:25:46
while and it's starting to melt the uh00:25:49
inboard elevon on the left-hand side00:25:51
which is causing flight control problems00:25:53
now the captain is trying to counteract00:25:56
this role00:25:57
and meanwhile that is happening the nose00:25:59
of the aircraft is pitching up more and00:26:02
more and its angle of attack is00:26:04
constantly increasing00:26:06
the first officer is listening out to00:26:08
the atc frequency and he can hear how00:26:10
charlie gold tower is talking to the00:26:12
fire leader who is telling the fire00:26:15
leader that the concorde is likely going00:26:17
to return back for straight in landing00:26:19
on the opposite runway00:26:21
in response to that he calls out le00:26:24
bourget level j and we are going to try00:26:27
for lebo j00:26:29
the engine fire alarm is now back again00:26:31
in the cockpit and00:26:33
the engine number one is surging once00:26:35
again removing all of the remaining00:26:38
thrust on that side of the aircraft this00:26:40
further causes the aircraft to roll over00:26:42
to the left and it gets into at the00:26:45
worst point a roll angle of 113 degrees00:26:48
to the left00:26:49
the gpws warning system is now sounding00:26:52
in cockpit as well saying00:26:54
pull up pull up and as that is happening00:26:57
there's indications that the trust is00:26:59
being moved back on the remaining00:27:01
engines three and four this is likely to00:27:04
try to counteract the role and get the00:27:07
aircraft over to wings level in order to00:27:09
be able to00:27:10
get it to continue to fly unfortunately00:27:13
it is just too late only seconds later a00:27:16
time 14 44 and 31 seconds the concorde00:27:19
crashes into a hotel in gunness just00:27:22
west of00:27:24
charles gold airport00:27:26
as it does so00:27:27
all 109 people on board the concorde00:27:31
parishes together with four people in00:27:33
the hotel on the ground00:27:36
[Music]00:27:48
[Music]00:27:58
this was an unspeakable tragedy and00:28:01
start on the air accident investigation00:28:03
started immediately at the crash site00:28:06
when the investigators started to go00:28:09
through all of the pieces that was left00:28:11
behind the crash they very quickly found00:28:13
the left landing gear boogie and when00:28:16
they examined the landing gear boogie00:28:17
they realized that there was a crucial00:28:20
spacer missing the function of that00:28:23
spacer was to keep the alignment of the00:28:25
tires on the landing in bouquet and00:28:27
without that spacer in place the boogie00:28:30
could actually start to wobble up to00:28:32
three degrees in any direction00:28:34
now could that have actually had an00:28:37
impact on the accident sequence and also00:28:39
was there anything that the pilots could00:28:42
have done in order to avoid this00:28:44
accident from happening i'm going to00:28:45
tell you all about what the accident00:28:47
investigation team found out just after00:28:50
this short message from my supporting00:28:52
sponsors i want to take this opportunity00:28:54
right now to just thank the sponsor of00:28:56
this episode which is curiosity stream00:28:58
and i love to have them on the sponsors00:29:00
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the first thing that the air accident00:30:00
investigation team started doing when00:30:02
they found out about the missing space00:30:04
was trying to find it because maybe it00:30:06
was somewhere on the crash site but00:30:07
quite quickly they actually found the00:30:09
spacer in an air france workshop where00:30:12
the concorde had undergone some00:30:13
maintenance to that landing gear boogie00:30:15
just a few days earlier this was a very00:30:18
serious laps on behalf of air france and00:30:20
the investigation team now needed to00:30:22
understand whether or not this missing00:30:24
spacer could have actually caused or00:30:26
aggravated the accident00:30:28
and the way they went about doing this00:30:30
was they had a look at the performance00:30:32
data of the concorde if the landing gear00:30:35
boogie would have started to skew during00:30:37
the takeoff run or indeed during the00:30:39
taxi out you would be able to see that00:30:41
on the way that the aircraft accelerated00:30:44
during the takeoff and also remember how00:30:46
the crew talked about the brake00:30:48
temperature before the takeoff and the00:30:50
fact that it was equal on both sides00:30:53
well that was the first real clue that00:30:56
the landing gear boogie was actually00:30:58
lined well at least during the taxi out00:31:00
because it would have been skewed that00:31:01
would have had an indication on the00:31:03
brake temperatures potentially higher on00:31:05
the left hand side during the takeoff00:31:08
roll the investigators had a look at the00:31:10
rudder pedal movement of the pilots to00:31:12
see if there had been some kind of pull00:31:15
to watch either direction00:31:16
but00:31:17
they found nothing and on top of that00:31:19
the data from the performance manual of00:31:21
the concorde very closely matched the00:31:23
actual performance of the aircraft00:31:25
during the take-off role and that would00:31:27
indicate that at least during the00:31:28
take-off role initially before they ran00:31:31
over the metal strip there was no extra00:31:33
drag coming from the left wheel boogie00:31:36
so the alignment seems to have been good00:31:38
all the way up until the aircraft00:31:39
crossed over that metal strip and the00:31:41
tire exploded00:31:43
together this data indicates that even00:31:45
though the missing spacer was a major00:31:48
lapse in behalf of air france it still00:31:50
didn't have any real impact on the00:31:53
accident sequence00:31:54
the investigation team now turned their00:31:56
eyes towards continental airlines and00:31:58
the dc-10 from which the metal strip had00:32:00
fallen and when they visited continental00:32:02
airlines and they went through the00:32:04
maintenance history of this dc-10 they00:32:06
recognized that this support metal strip00:32:09
had actually been replaced not once but00:32:11
twice within the previous two months and00:32:14
when they looked at it they realized00:32:16
that the metal strip in itself had not00:32:18
been manufactured according to the00:32:20
engine manufacturer00:32:21
instructions it had also been drilled 3700:32:25
times rather than the 12 times that was00:32:28
stipulated by the engine manufacturer00:32:30
and the metal strip next to it was00:32:32
actually a little bit too long and that00:32:35
was what was causing this metal strip to00:32:37
be constantly wore down and probably00:32:40
also the reason that it fell off in the00:32:42
first place these findings led to quite00:32:44
a lot of litigation and legal issues00:32:47
between00:32:48
the french authorities and continental00:32:50
airlines but we're not going to get into00:32:51
that in this video instead let's have a00:32:53
look at how the pilots performed during00:32:55
these 121 seconds00:32:58
the air accident investigation team very00:33:00
quickly realized that the pilots had00:33:02
never been trained for a scenario like00:33:04
this where they would lose both engines00:33:06
on one side together with a huge fuel00:33:08
leak and on top of that a fire00:33:10
since the aircraft had accelerated past00:33:12
their decision speed of v1 when they ran00:33:14
over the metal strip and the tire00:33:16
exploded the crew was essentially00:33:19
committed to the takeoff from that point00:33:22
if they would have decided to reject the00:33:24
takeoff it is highly likely that the00:33:26
aircraft would have had a high speed00:33:29
runway overrun which would have led to a00:33:32
land gear collapse and that together00:33:34
with the already burning fire would have00:33:36
in all probability led to00:33:39
a complete loss of the aircraft so the00:33:41
fact that they continued the takeoff and00:33:43
brought the aircraft into the air was00:33:45
completely understandable once they were00:33:47
in the air they effectively lacked00:33:49
enough thrust to get the aircraft to00:33:52
accelerate up to any sustainable climb00:33:55
speed or climb00:33:56
given that they couldn't retract the00:33:58
gear and the fact that they couldn't00:33:59
retract the gear was probably00:34:01
what was maintaining the flame outside00:34:04
as well so even if the pilots would have00:34:06
been able to keep the aircraft uh wings00:34:09
level and airborne00:34:11
the sustained fire would have eventually00:34:14
started to eat through both the flight00:34:16
controls on the left-hand side and the00:34:18
aircraft structure leading to00:34:20
the disaster so effectively the00:34:22
investigators said that there was very00:34:24
little to nothing that this crew could00:34:26
have done differently in order to avoid00:34:28
this accident from happening so in the00:34:30
end the air accident investigation team00:34:32
concluded that a single burst tire00:34:34
something that happened to the concorde00:34:36
before many times and was likely to00:34:38
potentially happen again was the cause00:34:40
of this catastrophic and unreversible00:34:43
tragedy and because of that conclusion00:34:45
the air worthiness certificate of the00:34:47
concord was almost immediately withdrawn00:34:49
until some serious improvements could be00:34:52
done to the structure these improvements00:34:55
included things like kevlar lining00:34:57
inside of the fuel tanks to make sure00:34:59
that even if a tire would burst it00:35:01
wouldn't have these catastrophical00:35:03
consequences it also included the00:35:05
protection and partial rewiring of00:35:07
electrical wiring inside of the landing00:35:09
gear strut and the wheel well bay and on00:35:12
top of that the aircraft needed to be00:35:13
fitted with new burst resistant ncg00:35:16
michelin tires and there were also some00:35:18
other minor improvements that needed to00:35:20
be done to the aircraft all of this led00:35:22
to the concorde being grounded for more00:35:24
than a year and just before it was00:35:27
scheduled to get back into service the00:35:29
horrible terrorist attacks of 9 1100:35:31
happened in new york00:35:33
that had a huge influence on the00:35:35
aviation business worldwide so it was to00:35:38
become the beginning of the end of the00:35:41
concord era the concorde continued to00:35:43
fly for another approximately two years00:35:45
until british airways as the last00:35:47
remaining operator retired the last00:35:50
concord on the 24th of october 200300:35:54
marking the end at least for now for00:35:57
passenger supersonic flight00:36:00
i also want to mention here that the uk00:36:02
air accident investigation team had some00:36:04
serious issues with the way that they00:36:05
had been treated by the french00:36:07
investigation team in this effort00:36:11
the uk team said that they had been00:36:13
denied access to crucial bits and parts00:36:16
of the information they hadn't been able00:36:18
to investigate some of the debris that00:36:21
was found on the runway until much much00:36:23
later and many other points like this00:36:25
and this is all outlined in an appendix00:36:27
to the final report now if you guys want00:36:30
to see an absolutely hair racing story00:36:32
about two pilots who pushed their00:36:34
aircraft to its absolute limits during a00:36:37
positioning flights in the u.s would had00:36:39
some really serious consequences00:36:41
well then check out this video up here00:36:44
or you can binge watch this entire video00:36:47
series about air crash investigation00:36:49
using this playlist up here have an00:36:52
absolutely fantastic day and if you guys00:36:54
want to support me and support the work00:36:56
that i do with the channel well then00:36:58
consider becoming a patreon i have00:37:00
weekly hangouts with my patreon crew i00:37:03
love doing that and i hope to see you in00:37:05
one of those hangouts next time byeDescription:
Thanks to Curiosity Stream for sponsoring today’s video. Go to https://curiositystream.com/?coupon=mentourpilot and use code MENTOURPILOT to save 25% off today, that’s only $14.99 a year. Check out this video about pilots playing around in their aircraft, next: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCMmCekKO_c On the 25th of July 2000 the world changed forever. With the first fatal crash of a Concorde since it first came into service, the confidence in the worlds only super sonic passenger jet was shattered. But what actually happened on during that fateful takeoff of Air France Flight 4590 in Charles de Gaulle Airport in France? What cased the huge fire and the eventual loss of controls? In this video I will go to the bottom of all the little details that led up to this crash, I hope you will find it interesting. If you want to support the work I do on the channel, join my Patreon crew and get awesome perks and help me move the channel forward! 👇 👉🏻 https://www.patreon.com/mentourpilot Get the Mentour Aviation app and discuss what You think about this! Download the app for FREE using the link below 👇 📲https://app.mentourpilot.com/ 📲 Join the Mentour Pilot Discord server here! 👉🏻 https://discord.com/invite/JntGWdn I have also created an Amazon page with Aviation books, material and flight simulator stuff that I think you will enjoy! 👉🏻 https://www.amazon.com/shop/mentourpilot Follow my life on instagram and get awesome pictures from the cockpit! 📲 https://www.facebook.com/unsupportedbrowser To find the right HEADSET for YOU, check out BOSE Aviation 👉🏻 https://boseaviation.aero/ Artwork in the studio 👉🏻 https://aeroprints.shop/ Get some Awesome Mentour Pilot merch 👉🏻 https://mentour-crew.creator-spring.com/ Below you will find the links to videos and sources used in this episode. Enjoy checking them out! Concorde 1969: @ André Cros https://www.aerotime.aero/upload/files/1200px-02.03.69_1er_vol_de_concorde_avec_jacqueline_auriol_(1969)_-_53fi1931-2.jpg Concorde 1969 2: @ AFP 2021 https://sputnikglobe.com/20170721/concorde-cia-us-opposition-1055754509.html CDG: @ NEW NEWS https://n00news.wordpress.com/2010/10/19/paris-airport-running-short-on-fuel-because-of-strike-action/ airfrance check in: @ caen-airport.com https://caen-airport.com/check Aircraft Maintenance @ gla.ac.uk http://www.cud.ac.ae/sites/default/files/programs/2017/fd-computer-networking-engineering-technology-1920x1080.jpg Memorial site: @ Christopher P. Hood https://hoodcp.wordpress.com/2020/07/25/remembering-the-concorde-flight-af4590-crash/ Wires: @ lectromec.com https://d2wwvh76f5odon.cloudfront.net/lectromec-wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Article109-0.jpg Concorde in flight: @airlineratings.com https://www.airlineratings.com/news/concorde-ever-perform-barrel-roll/ 9-11: @ AP Photo/Chao Soi Cheong https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/079074e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1800x1200+0+23/resize/2000x1333!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1d%2F1c%2F49ffd0c240f1b4eec5ad6884207f%2Fla-photos-wap-ap716367926225.jpg Last Concorde: @ Pedro Aragão https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aerospatiale-British_Aircraft_Corporation_Concorde,_British_Airways_JP6199717.jpg CFA1VX7XZ1G8FFY7 00:00 - Intro 00:36 - A Marvel of Engineering 03:36 - The Fuel System 04:41 - Performance Penalty 06:13 - Cockpit Inspections 07:11 - Engines Start 08:28 - The DC-10 10:40 - The Taxi to 26-R 13:51 - The Line Up 15:05 - 121 Seconds 19:03 - Watch Out! 23:08 - Airborne 25:33 - Uncommanded Roll 27:13 - Too Late 27:13 - The Jigsaw Begins 30:00 - Offset Landing Gear? 31:55 - The DC-10 / Continental Airlines 32:58 - Crew Performance 34:30 - Conclusions
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