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Last Updated: Sunday, 19 October, 2003, 00:28 GMT 01:28 UK

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Timeline: Concorde's career

4 November, 1956

UK sets up committee to study feasibility of supersonic passenger aircraft.
The Supersonic Transport Advisory Committee included officials and experts from government departments airlines and aircraft manufacturers. It produced 400 written submissions 'proving' a civilian supersonic aircraft could be commercially viable.

28 November, 1962

UK and France sign draft treaty on developing supersonic airliner.
French US and Soviet interest in supersonic transport was growing at around the same time as the UK's. After attempts to forge transAtlantic cooperation failed Britain and France decided to merge their projects. The American programme was cancelled in 1971. The Soviet Union's TU144 supersonic aircraft went into passenger service in 1977 but was withdrawn the following year.

11 December, 1967

First prototype unveiled at the Aerospatiale plant in Toulouse, southern France.

2 March, 1969

Concorde flies for the first time, from Toulouse, with the first British-made prototype taking to the skies a month later.

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1 October, 1969

First supersonic flight.

13 September, 1970

First landing at Heathrow.

26 September, 1973

First non-stop crossing of the Atlantic.

23 November, 1973

Prince Philip flies supersonic for the first time.
The husband of Queen Elizabeth II the Duke of Edinburgh began the Royal Family's long association with Concorde by joining a test flight in 1972. The aircraft was used for several overseas state visits in the following years.

21 January, 1976

First commercial flight, amid noise protests.

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22 November, 1977

BA and Air France begin services to New York.
Getting permission for Concorde to land for the crucial north Atlantic route was a long saga due to local concerns over noise. Despite technical data suggesting it would be no worse than an existing Boeing 707 the battle went all the way to the Supreme Court America's highest where the ruling eventually went Concorde's way.

13 July, 1985

Singer Phil Collins (left) uses Concorde so he can sing at the US and UK Live Aid charity concerts on the same day.

21 January, 1986

10 years since first commercial flight.

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1 November, 1986

First round the world charter flight, total flying time 31 hours 51 minutes.

22 October, 1987

Land speed record holder Richard Noble crosses Atlantic three times in one day, setting new record.

12 April, 1989

Rudder loss on charter flight from New Zealand to Australia.
There were several rudder failures in Concorde's later years. Experts said they were not a major safety concern because in theory the rudder was not crucial for flying Concorde except in some situations such as a crosswind or engine failure. However it was an embarrassing problem for the flagship aircraft and engineers struggled to solve it introducing a rudder replacement programme in 1992.

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26 March, 1993

First female pilot takes controls.

7 February, 1996

Record trans-Atlantic flight time set at two hours, 52 minutes, 59 seconds.

25 July, 2000

Air France Concorde crashes near Paris, killing 113 people.

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15 August, 2000

BA takes Concorde out of service.
Following a short pause immediately after the Paris crash BA continued to fly Concorde insisting the aircraft was safe. But a month later it emerged the authorities were about to withdraw its airworthiness certificate. The decision was taken so swiftly a BA Concorde at Heathrow was recalled to the boarding gate as it taxied for takeoff.

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21 January, 2001

25 years since first commercial flight.

7 November, 2001

Passenger services resume after �17m safety improvement programme.

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12 January, 2002

Final Paris accident report published.
France's Accident Investigation Bureau said the crash was caused by a stray strip of metal that fell off a plane using the same runway a few minutes earlier. It punctured one of the Concorde's tyres sending pieces of rubber hurtling into the fuel tanks prompting a leak and fierce fire. The report absolved the pilots and maintenance crews of any blame.

10 April, 2003

Concorde retirement announced by BA and Air France.
Despite the successful return to service after the Paris crash passenger numbers failed to pick up. Amid declining revenue from luxury air travel around the world and an expensive maintenance programme looming BA and Air France decided Concorde was no longer commercially viable.

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31 May, 2003

Last Air France Concorde flight.
The last commercial journey by a French Concorde left New York's JFK airport at 1218 GMT and arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle three hours later. The airline's five Concordes have all gone on public display three in France one in the US and one in Germany for which the aircraft was cut into pieces for the final journey by road and canal before being reassembled.