1 - FACTUAL INFORMATION
1.1 History of the Flight
On Tuesday 25 July 2000 the Concorde registered F-BTSC, operated by Air France, took
off from Paris Charles de Gaulle to undertake charter flight AFR 4590 to New York with
nine crew members (3 FC, 6 CC) and one hundred passengers on board. The Captain
was Pilot Flying (PF), the First Officer was Pilot Not Flying (PNF).
The total weights of the aircraft and of the fuel on board stated by the Flight Engineer (FE)
at the time the aircraft started out were 186.9 t and 95 t respectively. The speeds selected
by the crew were V1: 150 kt, VR: 198 kt, V2: 220 kt.
At 13 h 58 min 27 s, the crew contacted ATC on the Flight data frequency and requested
the whole length of runway 26 right for a takeoff at 14 h 30.
At 14 h 07 min 22 s, the controller gave start-up clearance and confirmed runway 26 right
for takeoff.
At 14 h 34 min 38 s, the Ground controller cleared the aircraft to taxi towards the runway
26 right holding point via the Romeo taxiway.
At 14 h 40 min 02 s, the Loc Sud controller cleared 4590 to line up. At 14 h 42 min 17 s,
he gave it takeoff clearance, and announced a wind from 090° at 8kt. The crew read back
the takeoff clearance. The FE stated that the aircraft had used eight hundred kilos of fuel
during taxiing.
At 14 h 42 min 31 s, the PF commenced takeoff. At 14 h 42 min 54.6 s, the PNF called
one hundred knots, then V1 nine seconds later.
A few seconds after that, tyre No 2 (right front) on the left main landing gear was
destroyed after having run over a piece of metal lost by an aircraft that had taken off five
minutes before. The destruction of the tyre in all probability resulted in large pieces of
rubber being thrown against the underside of the left wing and the rupture of a part of
tank 5. A severe fire broke out under the left wing and around the same time engines 1
and 2 suffered a loss of thrust, severe for engine 2, slight for engine 1.
