France set to test fly Concorde


Test flights will determine if technical modifications have eased safety fears over the Concorde

PARIS, France -- Air France is reported to be preparing for the first test flight of one of its grounded Concorde jets since one of the supersonic aircraft crashed in July.

The airline is expected to carry out the flight from Paris to southern France next week in tests aimed at returning the aircraft to service, a French newspaper reported on Thursday.

A flight from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport to a military aviation base in Istres, near Marseille, has been scheduled for January 18, Le Parisien newspaper reported.

	• Anatomy of the Concorde (Shockwave needed)
	• Flight AF4590 History
	• Map of crash area
	• Video Archive
	• Audio Archive
	• Story Archive
	• Supersonic vs. 'jumbo' jet
	• Images from the crash site
	• Inside the Concorde
	• Recent plane crashes
	• Message boards

It would mark the first takeoff of a Concorde from Paris' main international airport since one of the jets crashed in a ball of flames on July 24, killing 113 people.

Air France officials refused to confirm the news report, which said that the company would release details a day before the scheduled tests.

A spokesman for France's national civil aviation authority, the DGAC, said on Thursday that a request for permission to fly a Concorde to Istres had been submitted and was being treated.

French Transportation Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot said last month that flight and ground tests on the Concorde were expected to begin in January.

French and British authorities grounded the world's 12 Concordes, operated by British Airways and Air France, soon after the crash.

Le Parisien reported that the cross-country flight test would be made at subsonic speed.

Once the plane arrives it will undergo high-speed ground tests among a battery of other tests that will last up to 10 days, the newspaper reported.

Investigators will simulate a mock fuel leak to analyse events that led to the crash, the newspaper said.

Authorities believe the crash was caused by a metal strip that fell from a Continental plane using the same runway as the Concorde.

The strip gashed one of the Concorde's tyres, sending rubber debris hurtling toward fuel tanks and prompting a fuel leak and fire that brought the plane down, investigators have said.

British authorities have said they plan to hold a separate series of tests early this year on new fuel tank liners, designed to greatly reduce the chance of fire.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.