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Air Disasters #3
Last Days of the Concorde: The Crash of Flight 4590 and the End of Supersonic Passenger Travel
The gripping true tale of a devastating plane crash, the investigation into its causes, and the race to prevent similar disasters in the future.On July 25, 2000, a Concorde, the world's fastest passenger plane, was taking off from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris when it suddenly burst into flames. An airliner capable of flying at more than twice the speed of sound, the Concorde had completed 25 years of successful flights, whisking wealthy passengers--from diplomats to rock stars to corporate titans--between continents on brief and glamorous flights. Yet on this fateful day, the chartered Concorde jet, en route to America, crashed and killed all 109 passengers and crew onboard and four people on the ground. Urgent questions immediately arose as investigators scrambled to discover what had gone wrong. What caused the fire? Could it have been prevented? And, most urgently, was the Concorde safe to fly? Last Days of the Concorde addresses these issues and many more, offering a fascinating insider's look at the dramatic disaster, the hunt for clues, and the systemic overhauls that followed the crash.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 25, 2018
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217 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
August 24, 2019
Concorde was ultramodern, instantly recognisable, exclusive and, for thirty one years, seen as a safe form of travel. Until the day on the 25th July, 2000, when Flight 4590 set fire, after leaving Charles de Gaulle airport and crashed, literally a couple of minutes after take-off.
This includes the history of Concorde, the accident itself and the aftermath. The ninety seven passengers, including three children, were largely German holidaymakers, who were heading to New York to join a cruise ship. What should have been the trip of a life time, for which at least one passenger had saved for twenty years for, ended in tragedy. The author also tells us about the crew, as well as those killed, when the plane crashed into a local hotel, killing four chambermaids. Luckily, the party of schoolchildren, who were expected later that day, had not yet arrived, or the tragedy could have claimed many more lives.
The author pitches the language of this book well – it is not overly emotive, nor is it dry. I found the most interesting part the transcripts from the cockpit, where we learnt just how difficult was to fly and the checks that were required – all of which were followed. What happened was a terrible tragedy, which could not have been foreseen. The reaction to Concorde’s grounding was also fascinating to read, as well as the future of supersonic flight. An interesting account of a tragedy I recall unfolding.
This includes the history of Concorde, the accident itself and the aftermath. The ninety seven passengers, including three children, were largely German holidaymakers, who were heading to New York to join a cruise ship. What should have been the trip of a life time, for which at least one passenger had saved for twenty years for, ended in tragedy. The author also tells us about the crew, as well as those killed, when the plane crashed into a local hotel, killing four chambermaids. Luckily, the party of schoolchildren, who were expected later that day, had not yet arrived, or the tragedy could have claimed many more lives.
The author pitches the language of this book well – it is not overly emotive, nor is it dry. I found the most interesting part the transcripts from the cockpit, where we learnt just how difficult was to fly and the checks that were required – all of which were followed. What happened was a terrible tragedy, which could not have been foreseen. The reaction to Concorde’s grounding was also fascinating to read, as well as the future of supersonic flight. An interesting account of a tragedy I recall unfolding.
June 26, 2020
Last Days of the Concorde is a decent overview of the fatal crash in 2000 of Air France Flight 4590. Samme Chittum gives a thorough presentation of the facts concerning the crash through first hand accounts regarding the factors in Paris that day. Issues such as weather, the repair record of the aircraft (including longstanding known mechanical problems), brief bios on the 3 man crew are interwoven with a general description of the Concorde experience. The coverage on the development of Concorde is rather brief and not terribly illuminating as is Chittum's coverage of the enormous efforts post crash to get Concorde certified airworthy. All in all Last Days of the Concorde is a good book for anyone interested in a simple summation of that terrible day in aviation history.
January 29, 2022
While intriguing enough, it's really nothing I didn't already know about this disaster (also in reading a review or two, apparently there are some misleading or straight wrong details included in this book?). I really enjoyed the show about this particular crash, but this book just felt like an unnecessary extension of the show. -shrug-
January 11, 2025
Air France Flight 4590 was an international flight traveling from Paris to New York. This flight departed on July 25, 2000 (my goodness, I was in sixth grade) when debris on the runway from a previous flight caused catastrophic damage for 4590. This flight goes down in history as the only fatal Concorde incident in the history of Concorde. Concorde planes were in operation for 27 years, but all planes were grounded following this accident. Concorde ceased operations shortly after. If you happen to be in France, there is a beautiful memorial to the 109 people who died in this crash, located at Gonesse. There is another memorial located just south of the airport where the crash occurred. This book detailed the accident and the subsequent criminal investigations, so if you are interested in air history or plane crashes...this is a good book for you.
This book is part of a three-book series, called Air Disasters. Luckily, you do not have to read them in any particular order, which is wonderful. They are not terribly long books; this one came in under 300 pages. They are all well-researched and provide plenty of facts about the crashes. I was recommended these books off of a show, called Mayday, that I ran across on tv that covered several air disasters. I remember learning about the Concorde on the Weekly Readers that we did in elementary school. This was a really neat book, and I am glad I got an extra day off work due to inclement weather to read some.
This book is part of a three-book series, called Air Disasters. Luckily, you do not have to read them in any particular order, which is wonderful. They are not terribly long books; this one came in under 300 pages. They are all well-researched and provide plenty of facts about the crashes. I was recommended these books off of a show, called Mayday, that I ran across on tv that covered several air disasters. I remember learning about the Concorde on the Weekly Readers that we did in elementary school. This was a really neat book, and I am glad I got an extra day off work due to inclement weather to read some.
May 4, 2019
Last Days of the Concorde: The Crash of Flight 4590 and the End of Supersonic Passenger Travel (2018) by Samme Chittum is an account of the Concorde crash that was the beginning of the end of Concorde. The book also has quite a lot about the Concorde itself.
If you're interested in the crash and Concorde it is also very much worthwhile to seek out the podcast Omega Tau and their excellent episode about flying Concorde which has quite a bit about the crash. The book echos much of what was said there.
The Concorde was a truly remarkable aircraft designed in the 1960s that was able to fly at supersonic speeds for long periods at a time. The book makes the point that the Concorde actually flew at these speeds for most of its flights, unlike military aircraft that mostly flew subsonically except for small bursts.
The difficulty of taking off and landing for an aircraft primarily designed to fly very fast was huge. The drooping nose was just one of the many things done to make the plane able to take off. The landing gear and tyres also had huge stress on them. It was this stress, coupled with a piece of metal at the wrong place that led to the crash. The book goes through all the things that had to occur for the disaster to happen. Another similar incident that didn't result in a crash is also described in the book.
There is also a very interesting section on the new supersonic aircraft that are coming in the 2020s. Hopefully some of these remarkable aircraft will also be successful.
Chittum has done a great job of writing a very readable book about a complex failure of a marvellous aircraft. For anyone into aviation and interested in Concorde the book is very much worth reading.
If you're interested in the crash and Concorde it is also very much worthwhile to seek out the podcast Omega Tau and their excellent episode about flying Concorde which has quite a bit about the crash. The book echos much of what was said there.
The Concorde was a truly remarkable aircraft designed in the 1960s that was able to fly at supersonic speeds for long periods at a time. The book makes the point that the Concorde actually flew at these speeds for most of its flights, unlike military aircraft that mostly flew subsonically except for small bursts.
The difficulty of taking off and landing for an aircraft primarily designed to fly very fast was huge. The drooping nose was just one of the many things done to make the plane able to take off. The landing gear and tyres also had huge stress on them. It was this stress, coupled with a piece of metal at the wrong place that led to the crash. The book goes through all the things that had to occur for the disaster to happen. Another similar incident that didn't result in a crash is also described in the book.
There is also a very interesting section on the new supersonic aircraft that are coming in the 2020s. Hopefully some of these remarkable aircraft will also be successful.
Chittum has done a great job of writing a very readable book about a complex failure of a marvellous aircraft. For anyone into aviation and interested in Concorde the book is very much worth reading.
April 21, 2019
This is a very good book that could have been much better. First, as far as can be made out from the “Sources” section, it is primarily based on secondhand testimonies - many of those involved are alive and able to talk to serious researchers. Second, there are some egregious errors of fact - such as confusing which of the two airlines flew what inaugural - BA to the Gulf and AF to Rio, not the reverse as stated in the book. Thirdly, there is a good deal of repetition of facts - as if in a book of this nature you will dip in and read only a chapter or two and not the rest. And finally, there is some prose more worthy of a high-school journalism class, with a lot of unnecessary superlatives.
For all that, this is an account of an extremely complex accident that is both technically sound, well informed on the various debates around design, crew performance etc..: and most of all deeply moving.
The author somehow captures the immense emotional impact that this particular disaster had on both plane geeks and professionals, not to speak of the families of the passengers and crew.
I was at Roissy myself a few hours before the accident happened and for me, hearing about the accident when I landed in Rome was a JFK moment. The great strength of this book is that it does justice to all the relevant constituencies.
For all that, this is an account of an extremely complex accident that is both technically sound, well informed on the various debates around design, crew performance etc..: and most of all deeply moving.
The author somehow captures the immense emotional impact that this particular disaster had on both plane geeks and professionals, not to speak of the families of the passengers and crew.
I was at Roissy myself a few hours before the accident happened and for me, hearing about the accident when I landed in Rome was a JFK moment. The great strength of this book is that it does justice to all the relevant constituencies.
March 10, 2019
Chittum's focus is steady if somewhat distant from the precipitating event in Concorde's demise, providing a nice ingress into a subject. The tone is scholarly but with a journalist's linguistic accessibility (there are no obtuse phrases like, "journalist's linguistic accessibility," in Chittum's book, and it's the better for it.). She introduces us to some of the key figures in the events of Concorde's crash and does a serviceable job conveying the emotional toll of that horrible day and the subsequent aftermath.
Chittum plays the aftermath pretty much down-the-middle, a totally valid choice that, none-the-less limits the potential resonance of a book about Concorde. There's a brief section about the reaction of Queens (New York) residents to the cessation of Concorde flights that illuminated some of the socio-economic impacts of Concorde. In addition to being a technological marvel, and beautifully crafted airplane, it was also a plaything of the super-rich that significantly degraded the lives of citizens living beneath its flightpath. The sentiments of residence living near JFK airport was better characterized as, "good riddance," than sorrow about the cessation of Concorde flights.
The detour in Queens was brief and Chittum sticks primarily to the accident that brought down Concorde and the reconstruction of that accident by investigators. It's a zippy narrative that I enjoyed.
Note to publisher: That cover design is some rough stuff. It is, objectively, a nice design, but one would be challenged to come up with a less sympathetic image. Holy mother.
Chittum plays the aftermath pretty much down-the-middle, a totally valid choice that, none-the-less limits the potential resonance of a book about Concorde. There's a brief section about the reaction of Queens (New York) residents to the cessation of Concorde flights that illuminated some of the socio-economic impacts of Concorde. In addition to being a technological marvel, and beautifully crafted airplane, it was also a plaything of the super-rich that significantly degraded the lives of citizens living beneath its flightpath. The sentiments of residence living near JFK airport was better characterized as, "good riddance," than sorrow about the cessation of Concorde flights.
The detour in Queens was brief and Chittum sticks primarily to the accident that brought down Concorde and the reconstruction of that accident by investigators. It's a zippy narrative that I enjoyed.
Note to publisher: That cover design is some rough stuff. It is, objectively, a nice design, but one would be challenged to come up with a less sympathetic image. Holy mother.
January 25, 2019
An often times exciting and suspenseful read, I got quite a bit more from this book than I'd anticipated. I'd been expecting a somewhat formulaic and scientific approach to the writing but was pleasantly surprised by the structure - occasionally I could completely visualize the activities and the scenes being described.
The Concorde was the embodiment of mid-20th century scientists and engineers shared vision of a supreme technological future. And the realization of supersonic jet certainly must have made the fields of technology seem limitless. So when the fateful crash occurred that ended the age of faster than sound travel, the ensuing investigation left no stone unturned in their pursuit of an explanation.
The cause(s) that led up to the crash are as astounding and (nearly) unbelievable as they are incredible to read about here. I only discovered after completing this book that it is part of a series, which now has me searching for more of them at the library. I hope the others in the series are as good as this was!
The Concorde was the embodiment of mid-20th century scientists and engineers shared vision of a supreme technological future. And the realization of supersonic jet certainly must have made the fields of technology seem limitless. So when the fateful crash occurred that ended the age of faster than sound travel, the ensuing investigation left no stone unturned in their pursuit of an explanation.
The cause(s) that led up to the crash are as astounding and (nearly) unbelievable as they are incredible to read about here. I only discovered after completing this book that it is part of a series, which now has me searching for more of them at the library. I hope the others in the series are as good as this was!
July 13, 2020
I thought I would be crazy about this book because I really loved the last one by the same author. I find the subject matter intensely intriguing but I found my mind wandering... The crash info was riveting, the background on Concorde was also fascinating but unlike the other book I hurried along just trying to get it over with :/
I'm not an expert on the Concorde but people on the airplane sites say this book has many factual errors. Those reports and my inability to stay interested are the reason for the three star rating.
But if you are interested in the subject give it a go!
Happy flying you swells :)
I'm not an expert on the Concorde but people on the airplane sites say this book has many factual errors. Those reports and my inability to stay interested are the reason for the three star rating.
But if you are interested in the subject give it a go!
Happy flying you swells :)
June 26, 2023
The concepts that led to the creation of the Concorde commenced in the 1950’s during the space race. As the USA and the Soviet Union competed to get a man on the moon ‘the proposal that the United Kingdom should be the first nation to design and build supersonic transport [across the Atlantic] for the civilian market was an idea whose time had come.’ To achieve the ‘prestige and profits’ from this project, Britain found a European partner in France. Talks began and an agreement was signed in 1962. Commercial flights began in 1976.
This book is about the crash of the Concorde in 2000 that killed 113 people. It was not only caused by a tyre that burst after hitting a strip of metal on the runway, but by the particular set of circumstances that allowed a catastrophic fire to take hold. Due to the supersonic travel the Concorde was designed for, its tyres were under great strain and often burst. To cross the Atlantic from London or Paris to New York at twice the speed of sound, the Concorde used four times the amount of fuel as a Boeing 747 while carrying only a quarter of the passengers. It took off faster, flew twice as high and was much louder, even before the sonic boom.
Flight is always a miracle to me. I’ve even had a flying lesson, but I am more reassured by basic aerodynamics like the curve of the wing and its flaps and slats, than by the Delta wings of the Concorde which, having less natural lift, needed raw power to take off. The challenge in the minds of the Concorde’s creators was to reach for the stars while still ensuring safety.
In that light, I suppose what interested me about this book was the definition of safety as it was relevant to the crash. For example, as the Concorde’s tyres had burst in the past, and even punctured the fuel tanks, should I as a potential passenger have been worried? Consider Qantas Flight 32 which returned to Singapore in 2010 awash with a fuel leak and fractured wires, yet experienced no fire. I wonder also whether so much of the angst about the other issues with which this book is filled would have concerned me at all. Probably not. As the author points out, the pilots were at the top of their game, and I would have trusted the decisions they made on that day.
However, that’s never going to happen because the sad fact remains that I have been flying for 57 years and never made it out of Economy Class. I think progress is great but, even if I had the money to fly on the Concorde, my social conscience wouldn’t let me spend it.
This book is about the crash of the Concorde in 2000 that killed 113 people. It was not only caused by a tyre that burst after hitting a strip of metal on the runway, but by the particular set of circumstances that allowed a catastrophic fire to take hold. Due to the supersonic travel the Concorde was designed for, its tyres were under great strain and often burst. To cross the Atlantic from London or Paris to New York at twice the speed of sound, the Concorde used four times the amount of fuel as a Boeing 747 while carrying only a quarter of the passengers. It took off faster, flew twice as high and was much louder, even before the sonic boom.
Flight is always a miracle to me. I’ve even had a flying lesson, but I am more reassured by basic aerodynamics like the curve of the wing and its flaps and slats, than by the Delta wings of the Concorde which, having less natural lift, needed raw power to take off. The challenge in the minds of the Concorde’s creators was to reach for the stars while still ensuring safety.
In that light, I suppose what interested me about this book was the definition of safety as it was relevant to the crash. For example, as the Concorde’s tyres had burst in the past, and even punctured the fuel tanks, should I as a potential passenger have been worried? Consider Qantas Flight 32 which returned to Singapore in 2010 awash with a fuel leak and fractured wires, yet experienced no fire. I wonder also whether so much of the angst about the other issues with which this book is filled would have concerned me at all. Probably not. As the author points out, the pilots were at the top of their game, and I would have trusted the decisions they made on that day.
However, that’s never going to happen because the sad fact remains that I have been flying for 57 years and never made it out of Economy Class. I think progress is great but, even if I had the money to fly on the Concorde, my social conscience wouldn’t let me spend it.
July 15, 2019
Finishing this book the day after the epic Cricket World Cup final at Lords brings home again the awful accidental randomness of life: tiny things that have utterly unexpected consequences, which cannot be planned for in any way. It's an important lesson at a time when the blame culture becomes more and more prevalent, and people want everything to have a complete and logical explanation. And yes, I acknowledge that a cricket match and the lost lives of 113 people are not equivalent, but it all helps to provide understanding that accidents and random events do happen and that life can be "nasty, brutish and short" (Hobbes, but most memorably my second year history teacher, 'Hank' Malyon).
The author does a really good job of explaining the whole sequence of events, and the aeronautical and operational issues around them, even though I had retained the basic information about what had caused the crash, the explication and inclusion of commentary by many closely involved in the investigations were well handled. . The book was nicely paced and the writing spare enough. If I had one tiny criticism, it was that a couple of the diagrams had been inserted a bit too early, and the captions contained spoilers to the text to come.
The author does a really good job of explaining the whole sequence of events, and the aeronautical and operational issues around them, even though I had retained the basic information about what had caused the crash, the explication and inclusion of commentary by many closely involved in the investigations were well handled. . The book was nicely paced and the writing spare enough. If I had one tiny criticism, it was that a couple of the diagrams had been inserted a bit too early, and the captions contained spoilers to the text to come.
October 27, 2019
My review is here: https://www.bradrevell.com/2019/10/la...
My Three Key Takeaways:
1. It took one tonne of fuel for each passenger on the Concorde flight to get across the Atlantic. It is an incredible amount of fuel compared with subsonic flight! Said differently, it took 4.3 US Gallons for the Concorde to travel just 1 kilometre (0.62 miles). Heck, it took one tonne of fuel to taxi to the runway! However at an average cost of $12,000 per ticket at the time it was just profitable.
2. Only 20 Concordes had ever been built, including prototypes and preproduction models, and just 14 were destined to enter commercial service for British Airways and Air France; each airline purchased seven Concordes. In 2000, only six of the original seven Air France Concordes were being actively flown after the airline retired one in 1982 to be used as a ready source of spare parts for the remaining six. Concorde’s safety record was enviable: Not a single life had been lost in a crash in its 24 years of commercial service, inaugurated with regularly scheduled flights that began in 1976.
3. The only customers were British Airways and Air France. In July 1972, British Airways bought five Concordes, valued at £164 million, for the bargain price of £13.2 million per aircraft (for a total of $66.3 million); another two were essentially given away to British Airways for the token sum of £1 apiece. Air France signed a contract at the same time to buy four Concordes at the same price, followed by individual sales of three more planes over the next eight years. Concorde F-BTSC, for instance, was leased to Air France in 1976 for daily flights until other aircraft were delivered. It was returned to Aérospatiale later that same year and placed in storage. Air France leased it once more in 1979 before it at last purchased the plane for one franc in October 1980.
My Three Key Takeaways:
1. It took one tonne of fuel for each passenger on the Concorde flight to get across the Atlantic. It is an incredible amount of fuel compared with subsonic flight! Said differently, it took 4.3 US Gallons for the Concorde to travel just 1 kilometre (0.62 miles). Heck, it took one tonne of fuel to taxi to the runway! However at an average cost of $12,000 per ticket at the time it was just profitable.
2. Only 20 Concordes had ever been built, including prototypes and preproduction models, and just 14 were destined to enter commercial service for British Airways and Air France; each airline purchased seven Concordes. In 2000, only six of the original seven Air France Concordes were being actively flown after the airline retired one in 1982 to be used as a ready source of spare parts for the remaining six. Concorde’s safety record was enviable: Not a single life had been lost in a crash in its 24 years of commercial service, inaugurated with regularly scheduled flights that began in 1976.
3. The only customers were British Airways and Air France. In July 1972, British Airways bought five Concordes, valued at £164 million, for the bargain price of £13.2 million per aircraft (for a total of $66.3 million); another two were essentially given away to British Airways for the token sum of £1 apiece. Air France signed a contract at the same time to buy four Concordes at the same price, followed by individual sales of three more planes over the next eight years. Concorde F-BTSC, for instance, was leased to Air France in 1976 for daily flights until other aircraft were delivered. It was returned to Aérospatiale later that same year and placed in storage. Air France leased it once more in 1979 before it at last purchased the plane for one franc in October 1980.
April 7, 2023
The first half of this book was amazing. The second half of this book was annoyingly repetetive. I found myself really enjoying this book. My husbands grandad worked on the Concorde in the early days and it was interesting to hear about things he has mentioned. The descriptions were easy to follow and the author went into a thorough examination at each stage. They talk about how the crash happened, the fear and confusion during the crash and continuing for months after, how the concorde came about in the first place, the investigations, the court cases and even the future of supersonic travel. It was a facinating read that until the second half I would have reccomend compleatly. It doesn't get bad, simply repetetive, it will go through the investigation points again during the trial, we didn't need to hear the details again, we heard them in the last chapter, once was enough. This is a really intriguing book, unfortunately the second half meant I finished the book dissapointed so I cannot justify giving it more than 3 stars.
December 4, 2021
Very well done. In the likes of Flight 232, which I also gave 5/5. This book is definitely accessible to a non-aviation audience, mostly because, I think to even people in aviation like me, the Concorde is so unique that Chittum has to explain its engineering masterpiece. I have much more appreciation for the Concorde after reading this book. My appreciation for her writing grew throughout the book. Chittum has an excellent writing style, is able to make points very clearly, and interweave direct quotes from investigators with explication to keep the story moving forward and maintaining a sense of momentum. I didn't realize at first that this was a woman author and I chided myself that once again I was reading male aviation authors, and I was so pleasantly pleased to discover as I finished the book that it's authored by a woman.
February 11, 2019
This is a first-rate read for anyone interested in aviation, the aviation industry, and circumstances surrounding a very sad and fortuitous - and arguably avoidable - tragedy. Samme Chittum's book is meticulously researched, well-written, and very nicely structured to take the reader through the development of Concorde, the events before, during and after the brief flight of AF4590, many of the people involved, and the sad but inevitable retirement of the venerable jet. it ends on a cautious note of optimism, discussing current efforts to bring an SST to the skies once again. I'm an aviation buff, but you don't have to be to find reading this book a worthwhile experience.
June 27, 2025
i loved watching air crash investigation on national geographic when i was a kid and this book definitely scratched that itch again. had never heard about the concorde before this book but now im a bit sad that i never got to see it fly in real life. it genuinely looked really cool but considering all of the issues it had its discontinuation was definitely for the best.
definitely recommend this one to anyone interested in learning more about the fatal concorde crash, the concorde itself and, more broadly, supersonic transport as a whole.
definitely recommend this one to anyone interested in learning more about the fatal concorde crash, the concorde itself and, more broadly, supersonic transport as a whole.
April 14, 2019
A beautiful bird whose wings were clipped prematurely
As an aviation junkie i have always been fascinated by the Concorde. I was a young engineer when the competition between Aerospatiale, Boeing and the Russkies was underway. I had always hoped to one day fly in the Concorde but alas that never happened. This book was a detailed analysis of the creation of the White Bird and it's untimely and tragic demise. Recommended for all aviation buffs.
As an aviation junkie i have always been fascinated by the Concorde. I was a young engineer when the competition between Aerospatiale, Boeing and the Russkies was underway. I had always hoped to one day fly in the Concorde but alas that never happened. This book was a detailed analysis of the creation of the White Bird and it's untimely and tragic demise. Recommended for all aviation buffs.
April 12, 2025
3.5 rounded up. Perhaps a *bit* too much information. It's a bit outdated because of the developments in the industry such as Boeing going from being perceived as the most reliable workhorse of aviation to an untrustworthy plane and an untrustworthy organisation and exposing the repeated reality that is self-regulation is no regulation.
Also the end of it is largely predicting the future, which at this stage is the past, which depending on how you view it may seem interesting.
Also the end of it is largely predicting the future, which at this stage is the past, which depending on how you view it may seem interesting.
November 18, 2018
Compelling read
Having lived close to London Heathrow I could watch the Concorde coming in to land from my bedroom window. This book makes fascinating reading of the terrible crash and the following investigation. Could hardly put this book down.
Having lived close to London Heathrow I could watch the Concorde coming in to land from my bedroom window. This book makes fascinating reading of the terrible crash and the following investigation. Could hardly put this book down.
January 23, 2019
There were numerous instances of incorrect information in this book that really invalidated the material. I wish those would be corrected.
November 26, 2019
I liked this one better than her Flight 811 book and it makes me excited to read the Southern Storm installation of this series.
December 31, 2019
A slightly more readable—and dumbed-down—version of the official BEA report of the F-BTSC Concorde crash. Just read that report instead of this book.
April 7, 2021
General history of the Concorde and the tragedy of Flight 4590. If you are interested in air disasters, this is worth a read.
November 1, 2022
Very interesting topic, not terribly well written. The author appears to really love the word “prosaic”.
May 12, 2024
Working in aviation, I found this book really interesting.
It was a little long-winded in parts, going over some of the same facts again and again.
Would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in concorde and aviation in general.
It was a little long-winded in parts, going over some of the same facts again and again.
Would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in concorde and aviation in general.
May 31, 2025
A really interesting (and sad) read. I appreciated how thorough the author was with the details of this plane, the infamous crash, and future of supersonic flight. I learned a lot.
September 5, 2025
By chapter 3 it had already gotten pretty repetitive. Honestly, save your time and just read the wikipedia articles on the Concorde and Flight 4590 instead, and you'll probably get the same effect.
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