Porthole Cracks Prompt Concorde to Abort Flight Across Atlantic
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PARIS — A supersonic Concorde jet en route to New York with 69 passengers returned to Paris after cracks appeared in a porthole as the plane was nearly halfway across the Atlantic, Air France said Monday.
Air France Flight 001 was at 59,000 feet and had just reached supersonic speed Sunday when the cracks were noticed at the top of the outermost of four glass plates in one porthole, said Air France spokesman Laurent Kressman.
He said he does not know who first noticed the cracks about 90 minutes into the 3 hour and 45 minute flight.
The pilot slowed the jet, dropped to 32,000 feet and returned to Charles de Gaulle airport, Kressman said.
Passengers were put aboard another Concorde, but departure was delayed, and travelers on the high-tech jet arrived about nine hours after the normal arrival time for the trans-Atlantic Air France flight to New York.
“They were not very, very happy,” said Kressman.
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