It's been nearly two years since the one and only crash of a Concorde changed the way the world looks at runway debris and aircraft tires. The Concorde is back in revenue service; the tires, fuel tanks, hydraulic lines, and many other detail changes now contribute to additional safety.

The sharp-nosed supersonic transport, for thirty years the pride of Europe, got that nose bloodied and burned on July 25, 2000, in a takeoff accident that was the result of a compounding of unlikely events: on the takeoff roll, the Air France Concorde ran over a strip of titanium that had fallen from a DC-10. That resulted in a freak tire failure, which occurred at just the wrong moment. The tire broke apart, sending pieces of itself literally through the in-wing fuel tank, and also severed hydraulic control lines, starting a fire and robbing the crew of any chance for recovery. The plane few a couple miles, and crashed into a hotel. Everybody -- 109 -- on the plane, and four on the ground, were killed.

After a period of near-panic, and a bit of finger-pointing, and even some environmentalist-inspired delays in the investigation, British inspectors and the lead French team, agreed to the above scenario. Michelin designed a new tire for the Concorde, supplanting the OEM tires and taking over the contract; hydraulics were both rerouted and armored; the fuel tanks got ballistic linings and additional protection. The Concorde is again flying, but without its pre-disaster cachet as 'the world's safest airliner.'

A link to the English translation of the official French investigation can be found on the website of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch. The direct path is below.

FMI: www.bea-fr.org/anglaise/actualite/concorde-en.htm