Concorde Cracking Up

An Air France Concorde lost two pieces of its rudder en route to New York from Paris last Thursday, February 27 a development that went unnoticed until the needle-nosed jet had landed safely at Kennedy Airport, according to published reports.
This incident, the latest in a series involving the aging fleet of planes, comes amid an economic downturn that has strained the viability of high-cost, trans-Atlantic flights.
Thursdays flight landed at 8:35 a.m. and was towed to a hanger, where inspectors found pieces missing from the planes tail fin rudder.
Arlene Salac, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said inspectors discovered that an 1 1/2-foot part of the left side of the lower rudder and a 4-foot piece of the right side were missing.
The same plane, registered as F-BVFA, had to make an unscheduled landing in Halifax, Nova Scotia, last Wednesday after developing engine trouble.
And a British Airways Concorde approaching JFK developed its own rudder problems only a few months ago, on November 27. The pilots felt a small vibration as they neared New York. The plane landed smoothly, but ground inspectors later discovered that part of the rudder was missing.
All of the supersonic jets were grounded for 15 months after an Air France Concorde caught fire and crashed near Paris in July 2000, killing all 113 on board.
Prior to the Paris crash, the Concorde boasted an exemplary safety record. But many of the planes are now more than 25 years old, and safety concerns are growing.
Air France officials said that, despite Thursdays incident, the Concorde would continue to fly, although British Airways the only other airline that operates the supersonic jet may retire its fleet of seven Concordes by the end of the year, unless business picks up.
"The global business market is tough, and Concorde is primarily a business tool," British Airways spokesman Richard Goodfellow told the Associated Press last week. "Like all premium business travel, it has found things difficult in the last year."
On Thursday, Air France Flight 002 had 47 people aboard, nine of whom were crew members. The plane is capable of holding more than double that number of passengers, at a cost of over $6,000 each way.
The Concorde has long been a sore point for residents of south Queens, who endure its deafening, supersonic boom as the plane approaches or embarks from JFK.