NEW YORK – The first Concorde to cross the Atlantic since July 2000 landed in New York City Monday morning, completing a test run for the full return of the supersonic jet.
All Concordes were grounded after the July 25, 2000, crash outside Paris in which 113 people were killed. That was the plane's first crash in its 31-year history.
Monday's British Airways Concorde flight left Heathrow Airport, London, at 6:14 a.m. EDT, after a short, fog-induced delay. It arrived at the gate at Kennedy International Airport at 9:40 a.m., about 15 minutes late. All one hundred passengers aboard were BA employees.
"It went very well," said airline spokesman Jeff Angel.
Regular flights on the London-New York route will resume Nov. 9. Air France is scheduled to resume Concorde service between Paris and New York. on Nov. 7.
British Airways has conducted two other test flights over the Atlantic Ocean, but Monday's was the first to include a full crossing.
Both airlines have revamped their Concordes to address safety concerns following the July 2000 Air France crash.
Monday's test was partly designed to check ground services including check-in, boarding and catering, BA said.
The passengers included engineers involved in overhauling the jet and other BA employees who won seats in a competition. The Concorde was scheduled to return to Heathrow later Monday.
Investigators say a stray strip of metal on the runway punctured a tire in the Air France accident, propelling bits of rubber into the fuel tank and starting a fire.
Aviation experts have designed durable new radial tires that would burst into lighter, more flexible fragments if a blowout occurs. Engineers have also installed fuel tank liners, designed to prevent leaks if the plane's wing is ruptured. The liners are made in part with Kevlar — the fiber used in bulletproof vests.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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