Concorde test flight 2001

A British Airways Concorde takes off for a test flight from London's Heathrow Airport. The verification flight, which is expected to take the plane out over the Atlantic where it will reach twice the speed of sound, is due to end with a landing at RAF Brize Norton. * in Oxfordshire, and should pave the way for a return to passenger service of both BA's and Air France's Concordes later this year. Both fleets have been grounded since last August after the crash of an Air France Concorde near Paris in July 2000 with the loss of 113 lives. Each of BA's seven Concordes is being fitted with new Kevlar-rubber fuel tank liners to avoid any repetition of the accident when a portion of a burst tyre ruptured a fuel tank. The wiring in the undercarriage has also been strengthened and new, stronger, tyres fitted.