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'Microcracks' Ground A Concorde

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

July 24, 2000 / 1:40 PM EDT / CBS

A British Airways Concorde was grounded Monday as the airline worked with Air France to determine whether 'microcracks' in 11 of both airlines' 13 supersonic jets threaten safety.

Spokespeople for both airlines stress that passengers were never at risk. Ultrasonic testing and consultations with aviation authorities show that the planes are safe, they said.

The British Airways plane was grounded because one crack in the planes' wings expanded to 2.6 inches last week, forcing the company to ground it for maintenance repairs.

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It is expected to return to the skies by September, company spokesman Peter Middleton said.

"It was not a major structural element of the wing," Middleton said. "It was declared not safety critical."

The six British Airways aircraft still in use remain completely safe, despite the cracks. The other planes will continue to undergo regular checks, he said.

An Air France spokeswoman said cracks appeared on four of Air France's six Concordes a few months ago. Two of the four affected planes were currently in service and the other two were grounded for an unrelated, periodical review.

The discovery "does not call passenger safety into question," she said.

Concorde, an Anglo-French project which entered service in the mid-1970s, is the world's only supersonic passenger aircraft. There are a total of 13 in service, seven with British Airways and six with Air France.