Two British Airways Concordes developed problems during recent transatlantic flights, the airline has revealed.

An engine failure forced one New York-bound plane to turn back to London and another flight was forced to cut its speed when cracks appeared in a window.

The faults came to light after engine trouble forced the pilot of an Air France Concorde to descend thousands of metres on Monday, reportedly causing panic on board.

Thursday marks the first anniversary of the return of Concorde passenger services, following the deaths of 113 people when one of the Air France planes crashed near Paris in July 2000.

'No danger'

The engine fault was discovered during a flight on Sunday, when a cockpit warning light came on.

The faulty engine was turned off and the plane, which was carrying 82 passengers, flew back to Heathrow on its three remaining engines.

"There was no emergency landing necessary in the engine incident and the passengers were in no danger," a BA spokeswoman said.

The airline said the window cracks were found during a flight last Wednesday, 30 October.

Although the plane was forced to slow down and arrived in London 40 minutes late, BA said the fractures were "tiny" and were on the outer layers of a cabin window.

The spokeswoman said: "Concorde windows are made up of several sections and the tiny cracks were on the two outer layers. Again, there was no danger to passengers."

Smashed crockery

Air France has begun an inquiry into the engine trouble which hit its Concorde flight.

The plane, which was flying from New York to Paris, dropped to subsonic speed and reduced altitude by 7,000 metres (22,000 feet).

One passenger on the plane said the speed of the descent sent crockery smashing in the aisles.

The engine failure, which happened two hours into the flight, was due to an engine fault that is not specific to Concorde, an Air France spokeswoman told BBC News Online.