British Airways resumes Concorde service

A British Airways Concorde takes off from London on Wednesday

In this story: 'Exhaustive checks' 'Industry pulls together' RELATED STORIES, SITES

British Airways has resumed all its Concorde services between London and New York, with the company saying it has "complete faith" in its fleet of supersonic jetliners.

But Air France said its own Concorde flights would remain suspended as the investigation continues into the cause of Tuesday's crash north of Paris.

In a statement Wednesday, British Airways said it had decided to go ahead with its regularly scheduled 0930 GMT service -- flight BA001 from London's Heathrow airport to New York -- after carrying out "extensive aircraft checks overnight".

The company said it had found no reason to believe the airplanes should remain grounded.

A BA Concorde flight crew leave the aircraft after its flight from New York was cancelled on Tuesday

Passengers checking in for Concorde flight BA001 Wednesday morning were philosophical about the journey ahead.

"Lightning doesn't strike twice," said Brian Pople, 60, an electrical contractor from Watford, England, who was traveling to the U.S. for a five-day vacation with wife Wendy.

Pople told the UK's Press Association: "From what I can see on the news, it was probably something that happened on the ground. There's nothing wrong with the design. They've been using them long enough. It's only happened once in 30 years."

Pople said British Airways had offered him a refund but he had turned it down.

On Tuesday, British Airways cancelled its two evening Concorde flights after Air France flight 4590 ploughed into a hotel outside Paris shortly after takeoff. The accident, which killed all 109 people on board and four on the ground, was the supersonic's first crash in 30 years.

Mike Street, BA's director of customer of customer services and operations, said: "We have carried out extensive checks overnight and found no reason to believe the airplanes should remain grounded."

BA made its decision after conferring with aviation authorities in Britain and France, as well as engine and aircraft manufacturers in both countries.

Street said: "British Airways' first concern always is safety. All our aircraft are subject to exhaustive and continuing checks. We have compete confidence in our Concordes.

"Meantime, our thoughts and sympathies remain with our colleagues at Air France, and all those involved in this tragedy. We have been in touch with Air France regularly since yesterday’s tragedy and have offered any assistance we can provide."

British Airways had no immediate information about how many passengers are booked on its two scheduled flights out of London to New York Wednesday. The Concorde has a seating capacity of 100.

Meanwhile, flags are flying at half-mast at the UK's Farnborough International air show as the Concorde crash cast a shadow over what is one of the world's biggest aviation events.

A minute's silence was held at the show organizer's official dinner Tuesday night, while a statement of condolence to relatives of the victims was to be made Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the event's organizers, the Society of British Aerospace Companies, said that otherwise the show would continue as planned Wednesday.

Boeing chief executive officer Phil Condit, who runs the world's biggest aerospace enterprise, reflected on the disaster before the start of the company's daily press conference.

"This entire industry always pulls together. We care very deeply about what we do and we have nothing but sorrow for those who lost their lives and now the job is to find out exactly what happened and take advantage of that knowledge," he said.

Condit said the industry's prestige would survive the tragedy. "I think this industry has done more to foster safety than almost any other," he said.

"We try to find out what happens in any accident and build on that knowledge so that we don't repeat those things. That's why it is the safest form of transportation in the world."

Reuters contributed to this report.

Investigators comb French crash site
July 26,2000
Concorde crashes after takeoff from Paris
July 25, 2000
BA halts Concorde flights after crash
July 25, 2000
Concorde: Speed and luxury
July 25, 2000

British Airways
Air France
U.K. Civil Aviation Authority
Direction Generale de l'Aviation Civile

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