An interim report published yesterday by the French Bureau of Accident Investigation (BEA) confirmed that the Concorde crash in Paris on July 25th, 2000, which cost 113 lives, was caused by an exploding tyre on the runway.
The text of the latest findings reads:
"At take-off on runway 26R, the Concorde, travelling at a speed of 175 knots (324 km per hour), hits a strip of metal from a DC10 which has taken off a few minutes before," the report says. "This metal strip gashes the tyre of wheel number two on the port landing assembly. One or more pieces of tyre are flung against the lower side of the wing at the level of fuel tank number five.
"This leads to the rupture of the tank by a process which is still being studied, but which seems to link the deformation of the wall of the tank with the passing of a shock wave through the fuel. A large-scale leak ensues. The kerosene which escapes is caught up in the turbulence in the wheel assembly and catches fire. The causes of this are also being studied. Engines one and two are badly disturbed by the hot gases emanating from the burning kerosene. The aircraft takes off with a substantial fire already established . . .
"The fire alarm on engine two goes off. The crew switch on the fire procedure. Engine one gains a thrust approaching normal levels.
"Concorde is flying at low speed and at low altitude. The crew notices that the landing assembly cannot be retracted, probably because of a failure in the left gate, this in turn a result of the damage caused either by the shock created by the tyre's destruction, or by the fire.
"The crew considers landing at Le Bourget airport. The loss of power in engine one happens a few seconds later, caused by the ingestion of a mixture of hot gas and kerosene, and internal damage created by the ingestion of structural debris.
"The incidence and the roll of the aircraft increase significantly. Control is lost under the combined effect of a dyssymmetry of thrust, a severe imbalance of thrust-drag, and - possibly - structural damage caused by fire.
"The thrust of engines three and four decreases rapidly, probably caused by a deliberate reduction associated with the distortion of the air intake. The plane crashes."