Chilling final words of Concorde pilot after plane caught fire and crashed just 77 seconds into flight killing 113
THESE are the chilling final words of a Concorde pilot after his plane caught on fire and crashed just 77 seconds into a flight leaving 113 passengers dead.
It comes after a transcript from the dire moments in the cockpit were revealed from the horrific aviation accident that happened in France more than two decades ago.
In 2000, the infamous plane was heading from Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport to New York carrying 100 travellers and nine flight crew.
But, shortly after taking off the luxury jet caught fire and subsequently ploughed into a hotel in the small town of Gonesse.
The terrifying photo of the Air France flight 4590 Concorde plane engulfed in flames mid-flight has forever been engrained in French history.
Scenes from the wreckage also left viewers shocked as the frame of the jet was left in ruins.
However, now the true horror can be revealed as Captain Christian Marty’s last words on July 25, 2000, surfaced.
Following take-off, the Paris control tower was heard telling the crew: “Concorde zero… 4590, you have flames. You have flames behind you.”
The Concorde’s chief navigator said: “Breakdown eng… Breakdown engine two.
“Cut engine two.”
The aircraft reportedly tried to gain speed for an emergency landing before the captain was heard saying his final words.
Marty said: “Too late… no time.”
The co-pilot was then heard saying: “Le Bourget, Le Bourget.
“Negative, we are trying Le Bourget [airport to land].”
The crew lost all power in one engine and could neither accelerate nor gain altitude as they desperately tried to reach Le Bourget airport.
Sixteen seconds later the recording ends and not long after everyone onboard was dead.
The crash landing also killed four people on the ground – taking the death toll to 113.
Devastatingly, the Air France flight 4590 Concorde plane was only in the air for a mere 77 seconds in total.
The crash prompted the airline to ground its remaining Concorde planes immediately and British Airways followed soon after.
French investigators confirmed a burst tyre had set off the tragic chain of events, which brought the plane down.
The investigators said: “The accident shows that the destruction of a tyre, an event that we cannot say will not recur, had catastrophic consequences in a short period of time, preventing the crew from rectifying the situation.
“The crew had no way of knowing about the nature of the fire nor any means of fighting it.”
There was also a small metal strip, probably from another aeroplane, found on the runway.
The report said the 40cm piece of metal almost certainly slashed the Concorde’s tyre, sending large chunks of rubber hurtling at tremendous speed into the plane’s fuel tanks.
The report continued: “Shortly before rotation, the front right tyre of the left undercarriage became damaged and tyre fragments were projected against the fuselage.
“At least one fuel tank was ruptured in one or more places, resulting in a substantial fuel leak.
“The leaking fuel caught light and a very violent fire ensued throughout the duration of the flight. Engine problems occurred in engine number 2 and, briefly, in engine number 1.
“The aircraft flew for approximately one minute.”
The transcript revelation follows another Air France flight crash that had its verdict delivered this week.
Both AirFrance and Airbus were cleared of all wrongdoing in the plane crash, in which 228 people including British and Irish passengers died.
The aircraft’s “sleeping pilots” were fully to blame and the companies involved in the disaster were found not guilty.