A Concorde's Doomed Flight

By Kathleen Adams

During its takeoff from Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport, Air France Flight 4590 heaves itself off the ground, only to find its engines on fire and landing gear stuck. The pilot is unable either to abort the takeoff or make it to nearby Le Bourget airport.

NOSE Droops hydraulically during takeoff to improve the crew's forward view

WHEELS The Concorde's 10 wheels retract hydraulically

FUEL TANKS 13 tanks carry 31,500 gal. (119,500 L)

ENGINES Four Rolls-Royce/SNECMA Olympus 593-610 engines power the plane

1 Replaced Thrust Reverser A spare part is installed in Engine No. 2 causing investigators initially to blame the crash on faulty repairs

2 A Rear Tire Bursts Many now believe tires on the plane's left side may have burst during takeoff, shooting debris into the engines

3 An Engine Catches Fire Witnesses reported seeing flames shooting from Engine No. 2, under the left wing, just before takeoff

4 A Second Engine Fails Engine No. 2 fails, and No. 1 loses power intermittently, dooming attempts to stabilize the plane

Engine

AIR INTAKE Sucked into impellers, air is compressed and heated

TURBINE BLADES A shattered blade could rupture a fuel tank or damage an engine

COMBUSTION CHAMBER Hot compressed air from the impellers is mixed with fuel and ignited

AFTERBURNERS To increase the thrust during takeoff, more fuel is fed into the afterburner

THRUST REVERSERS These deflect the exhaust and slow the plane during landings

Source: AP

Written by Kathleen Adams