Summary

TAPE: EF01/0535 IN_TIME: 22:07:10 DURATION: 3:10 SOURCES: APTN/POOL/British Airways VNR RESTRICTIONS: DATELINE: Various, July 17, 2001/ File SHOTLIST: APTN - Heathrow Airport, England - 17 July, 2001 1 Front shot as Concorde takes off and wheels retract Pool - Heathrow Airport, England - 17 July, 2001 2 Rear shot as Concorde climbs away British Airways VNR - Recent 3 Worker handling new Kevlar protective material for Concorde fuel tanks 4 Worker pushing up new insulation into Concorde fuselage 5 Worker fitting insulation into fuselage APTN - Brize Norton base 17 July 2001 6 Concorde landing 7 Cutaway of wind sock on runway 8 Wide of Concorde on runway 9 Close up of cockpit 10 Wide of front of plane 11 Mid shot of men at plane's wheels 12 Wide of plane and media on runway 13 SOUNDBITE: (English) Captain Mike Bannister, British Airways' Chief Concorde Pilot A real joy to be flying this wonderful aircraft once more and taking her back where she belongs And the reception we had on leaving Heathrow, and the reception here is very very encouraging And not only that all the way en route we have had so many well wishers, so many other pilots and air traffic organisations saying good luck to us It really is tremendous tribute to all the people on both sides of the channel, the manufacturers, the airlines, the accident investigators, the authorities who were really working together, to get Concorde back in the air once more 14 Cutaway 15 SOUNDBITE: (French) Captain Mike Bannister, British Airways' Chief Concorde Pilot The flight was very very good, the aircraft was marvellous 16 Cutaway 17 Wide of plane 18 Wide of Captain Bannister going up steps to cockpit File - 26 July, 2000 - Gonesse, France 19 Firefighters dousing flaming wreckage File - 25 July, 2000 - Gonesse, France 20 Wide shot of smouldering wreckage and onlookers File - 26 July, 2000 - Gonesse, France 21 Wide shot emergency services carrying away bodies on stretchers STORYLINE: A newly modified British Airways Concorde completed a test flight on Tuesday - the first supersonic flight since the fleet was grounded last year With chief Concorde pilot Captain Mike Bannister at the controls, the sleek aircraft took off from London's Heathrow airport at 1318 GMT The flight plan, intended to duplicate the operating conditions of Concorde's London-New York route, saw the plane fly out over the Atlantic, turn round the southwest of Iceland, then return to the UK During the three hour and twenty minute flight, extensive testing was carried out on safety equipment added since last year's crash near Paris British Airways has strengthened the wiring in the undercarriages of its seven Concorde's, lined the fuel tanks with a special protective material called Kevlar, and made other changes meant to prevent fuel leaks The French tyre maker, Michelin, has also developed a new strengthened tyre to prevent punctures The plane landed at Royal Air Force Brize Norton air base at 1640 GMT Members of the public gathered at the rain-lashed airfield to welcome back the supersonic aircraft Captain Bannister said it was absolutely fantastic to get back behind the controls and described the flight as the best ever He also said that he was confident that Concorde would be back in the air soon and added that BA would stage another test flight as modification work continues The Concorde fleets of British Airways and Air France were grounded after an Air France Concorde crashed outside Paris on July 25 last year, killing 113 people Authorities believe a stray metal strip on the runway ripped one of the Concorde's tyres, causing rubber debris to smash into the fuel tanks which leaked and caught fire, bringing the plane down A four-man crew checked the runway for any debris before Tuesday's test flight The British carrier says it hopes to fly its Concordes commercially again by late summer Air France, which has conducted Concorde test flights at subsonic speeds, hopes to fly again by the autumn On Tuesday's test flight, it reached a top speed of 2,170 kilometres per hour, around twice the speed of sound, and climbed to 18,300 metres The plane will remain in Oxfordshire for checks by engineers