French investigators have said Concorde could fly again if modifications were implemented to prevent a repeat of July's disaster when the Air France plane crashed, killing 113 people.
Presenting an interim report into the crash, investigators said they were moving closer to recommending adjustments that might allow aviation authorities to lift a flying ban imposed on the aircraft in August.
"We have made very great progress in understanding the scenario of the accident," said Mr Paul-Louis Arslanian, head of France's Air Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA).
"The fact of understanding what caused the accident will facilitate the task of engineers in offering solutions," he told a news conference.
Concorde operators British Airways and Air France are examining ways to prevent a repeat of the disaster that investigators think was triggered by a burst tyre.
In a report published on Friday, the BEA gave credence to an initial theory that the plane ran over a metal strip on the runway as it took off, bursting a tyre that sprayed chunks of rubber into the fuel tanks.
Unlike the previous report published at the end of August, the new document said the fuel tanks did not appear to have been punctured, but had burst open from the inside as the impact of shredded pieces of tyre caused an internal shockwave.
The latest findings backed earlier reports that the metal strip had dropped off a Continental Airlines DC-10 that left Charles de Gaulle airport just before Concorde.
Air France insurers launched legal proceedings against Continental in the French courts in November for its alleged role in the accident, hoping to recoup multi-million dollar lawsuits filed against the firm by victims of relatives.
Reuters