Concorde Back In Air

British Airways canceled plans to fly a Concorde to an aircraft exposition, officials said Thursday, although the airline resumed Concorde flights a day earlier.

A Concorde was scheduled to pick up officials from Oshkosh in New York and arrive at the Experimental Aircraft Association's convention at Wittman Regional Airport in time to offer trips Friday for exposition visitors.

EAA spokesman Dick Knapinski blamed the cancellation on scheduling problems.

British Airways told the EAA it has cut back on its own Concorde flights during an inspection, Knapinski said.

With a reduced fleet available, the company canceled charter flights and will provide only commercial service, Knapinski said.

Passengers aboard Flight 001, which arrived in New York Wednesday, included Jim Wadia, a partner in the New York office of Arthur Andersen, the big accounting firm.

He said the mood on the plane, his own included, was "very relaxed." He says slept on the Wednesday morning flight.

He added he was told the statistical probability of this kind of plane "going down twice in 24 hours is just about zero."

Another passenger, Chris Brown of Singapore, said he had a little bit of anxiety prior to boarding, but none during the flight.

He said neither the captain nor crew mentioned the Paris crash.

BA canceled two evening flights Tuesday after Air France Concorde flight AF4590 caught fire during takeoff and crashed into a hotel outside Paris, killing 114 people.

"We believe there is no technical, safety or operational evidence to suggest that Concorde should not operate safely in he future," said airline spokesman Mike Fleet, noting its Concorde fleet's engines, hydraulic systems and airframes have undergone extensive technical checks.

French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot on Wednesday ordered the indefinite suspension of all Air France Concorde flights. At least one of the engines of the Air France flight caught fire during takeoff from Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Before boarding the Heathrow flight, Concorde passengers said they'd been offered either a refund or alternate flight. Some chose the latter.

"I have total confidence in the engineers and pilot of this Concorde, but I just can't face it," said CNBC television executive Bill Bolster, who transferred to a subsonic flight to New York.

Three more Concorde flights were scheduled from London and New York throughout Thursday.