Concorde’s First Supersonic Passenger Flight Happened 40 Years Ago
The world’s first ever supersonic passenger flight took off 40 years ago today. At 11.40am on Wednesday 21 January 1976, two Concorde aircraft took to the skies simultaneously, one from Paris and the other from London, heading to Rio de Janeiro and Bahrain respectively. This was the first time that air passengers could board a craft that broke through the sound barrier. The flight was the culmination of a 14-year project hatched by England and France, which saw more than 50,000 technicians, designers and engineers come together to create the 1,350mph plane. Concorde’s maiden flight was seven years earlier, when French pilot Andre Turcat took the jet on a 27-minute flight. After a fatal crash in 1999 and subsequent safety concerns, the aircraft took its very last flight on October 24 2003. These pictures show Concorde through the ages.
First Commercial Flight
The British Airways Concorde waits on the tarmac at Heathrow airport before taking off for its very first commercial flight on 26 January 1976. Passengers paid £676 (about £5,000 today) to jet from London to Bahrain. (Howard/Library/REX Shutterstock)
Retro Style
Models wear the Hardy Amies-designed uniforms that British Airways Concorde flight attendants donned on the supersonic jet’s first commercial flight. (PA Archive)
Safe Landing
The Air France Concorde stands on the tarmac in Rio de Janeiro, after completing the first supersonic commercial flight from Paris. A British Airways Concorde made a simultaneous flight from Heathrow to Bahrain. (Sipa Press/REX Shutterstock)
Touching Down
The first passengers ever to travel on a commercial supersonic flight disembark from Concorde in Rio de Janeiro on 21 January, 1976. (Sipa Press/REX Shutterstock)
Royal Approval
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh disembark from a British Airways Concorde on arrival at Kuwait airport in 1979. The queen flew by Concorde to complete a tour of middle eastern countries. (Ron Bell/PA Archive)
Fighter Pilots
In 1981, two World War I fighter pilots were invited to fly on Concorde. Leonard Rochford (left) Of Bruton Somerset, who was 84, and 81-year-old Matthew Barrett Who Was A Bristol Fighter Pilot In R.f.c. flew with stewardess Ellen White. (Geoffrey White/Associated Newspapers/REX Shutterstock)
Height Of Fashion
This is what Concorde’s interior looked like in 1985 - it was considered the height of luxury in aviation. (Peter Brooker/REX Shutterstock)
Travel In Style
The Queen Mother takes a flight on British Airways Concorde as a 85th birthday treat in 1985. (Glenn Harvey/REX Shutterstock)
New Threads
Pilots and cabin crew show off their newly designed uniforms for British Airways Concordes in 1985 at a photoshoot in Cannes, France. (Peter Brooker/REX Shutterstock)
Record Breaker
Barbara Harmer became the first woman to pilot Concorde in 1993. (Alison McDougall/Evening Standard/REX Shutterstock)
Fly By
Concorde and the Red Arrows fly over Heathrow to mark the airport’s 50th birthday in 1996. (Steve Fenton/REX Shutterstock)
Tragedy
The scene of the tragic Concorde crash in 1999. The Air France aircraft crashed in flames two minutes after taking off from Charles De Gaulle Airport, killing all 109 passengers on board. (Sipa Press/REX Shutterstock)
Final Voyage
Concorde takes off for its final flight from Heathrow Airport in 2003. It is en route to its final resting place at Filton airfield, near Bristol. (Tim Ockenden/PA Archive)
Fond Farewell
Captain Mike Bannister (right) and Senior First Officer Jonathan Napier (left) wave from the cockpit as the British Airways Concorde lands at London’s Heathrow Airport, on the day that the world’s first supersonic airliner retired from commercial service. Thousands of people gathered at the airport to see three of the aircraft land one after the other. (Sean Dempsey/PA Archive)
