Of the 20 Concorde aircraft manufactured between 1967 and 1979, 16 are currently on public display in museums, two remain in storage at airports, and one was destroyed in the 2000 Gonesse crash. This accounts for 19 aircraft. The 20th Concorde, Air France’s F-BVFD, was dismantled and scrapped, with its components dispersed across multiple locations.
Development and Production of Concorde
The Concorde project began in 1954 with initial studies and entered commercial service in January 1976. Development costs escalated from an initial estimate of $90 million ($2.2 billion in 2024 dollars) to approximately $2.5 billion ($19 billion in 2024 dollars) by the time of first delivery. Initial market projections anticipated demand for 350 aircraft, but only 100 order options were placed. Pan Am, Air France, and BOAC each initially ordered six aircraft, with Pan Am canceling in January 1973. Continental Airlines and Air Canada also placed orders that were later canceled.
Production totaled 20 aircraft: two prototypes, two pre-production models, two development aircraft, and 14 commercial units. Air France and British Airways each operated seven commercial Concordes.
F-BVFD Service History
F-BVFD completed its first flight in February 1977 and accumulated 5,814 flight hours before retirement in 1982, the lowest total of any commercial Concorde. Most operational Concordes exceeded 10,000 flight hours, with British Airways’ G-BOAD logging 23,397 hours.
In 1977, during a flight to Rio de Janeiro with a scheduled stop in Dakar, Senegal, F-BVFD experienced a hard landing. The aircraft touched down at a descent rate of 840 feet per minute, exceeding the Aircraft Flight Manual maximum of 600 feet per minute. The impact damaged the rear landing gear and fuselage, with portions of the rear fuselage contacting the runway surface.
Maintenance personnel in Dakar conducted inspections and cleared the aircraft for continued operations. F-BVFD remained in service for five additional years following the incident.
Route Network Changes and Grounding
In 1982, Air France discontinued Concorde service to Washington DC, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, and Caracas. The carrier subsequently grounded two aircraft for maintenance evaluation, including F-BVFD.
Detailed structural inspections revealed extensive damage from the 1977 Dakar landing that had not been fully identified during initial assessments. The damage had progressed during five years of continued operations. Air France determined that repair costs exceeded the economic value of returning the aircraft to service and designated F-BVFD for parts reclamation to support the remaining fleet.
Dismantling and Current Location of Components
F-BVFD was parked at Le Bourget Airport near Paris and systematically stripped of serviceable components through 1994. The nose cone was sold to a private collector in the United States for $40,000.
Remaining components are located at multiple sites. Exhaust cowlings from the Olympus 593 engines are displayed at the Farnborough Air Sciences Museum in Hampshire, England. Fuselage sections remain at Le Bourget Airport, adjacent to preserved Concordes F-WTSS and F-BTSD, though F-BVFD components are not on public display.
The 2000 Gonesse Accident
The only other Concorde not available for viewing is F-BTSC, destroyed on July 25, 2000. Air France Flight 4590 struck debris on the runway during takeoff from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, puncturing a fuel tank and causing a catastrophic fire. The crash killed 113 people: 109 aboard the aircraft and four on the ground in Gonesse, located 10 miles northeast of Paris.
The accident resulted in a fleet-wide grounding lasting over one year. While Concorde operations resumed in November 2001, both Air France and British Airways permanently retired their fleets in 2003.
Fleet Disposition
Current locations of the 18 surviving Concordes include:
On Display:
- Multiple museum locations across Europe and North America house 16 aircraft
In Storage:
- Two aircraft remain at airport facilities
Destroyed:
- F-BTSC: Lost in 2000 Gonesse accident
- F-BVFD: Scrapped 1982-1994, components dispersed
Operational Context
While Concorde achieved recognition for transatlantic routes between London and New York (British Airways) and Parisand New York (Air France), both carriers operated additional routes. Air France maintained Concorde service to destinations in South America and Africa, including the Paris-Dakar-Rio de Janeiro routing where F-BVFD sustained structural damage.
The F-BVFD case demonstrates the economic constraints of maintaining supersonic aircraft fleets during periods of route rationalization. The decision to cannibalize one airframe to support fleet operations reflected the resource requirements of Concorde maintenance and the limited production run that restricted parts availability.
