The day Concorde crashes heralded the end of a dream

Twenty five years ago today

Air France Flight 4590 crashed shortly after take-off in Paris with all 109 passengers and crew, and four on the ground killed. This was the only fatal incident involving Concorde; commercial service was suspended until November 2001. The surviving aircraft were retired in 2003, 27 years after commercial operations had begun. Eighteen of the 20 aircraft built are preserved and are on display in Europe and North America.

It was the end of a dream. It had been a joint UK and French project. It travelled at Mach 2.04, twice the speed of sound, which works out at 2,179 km/h.

Because of the sonic boom Concorde only flew at supersonic speeds over water. 

Every day in West Kerry approximately at midday the wonder aircraft could be heard breaking the sound barrier as it flew out over the Atlantic.

They were great times, detente between East and West, the Berlin Wall had tumbled down, early days of peace in Northern Ireland, indeed, the crash of the Concorde that day in Paris may well have been an ominous sign of things to come.