Plane Crashes That Changed the Skies Forever

During takeoff from Paris, a piece of metal on the runway punctured a tire on the supersonic Concorde. Debris struck the fuel tank, igniting a fire that caused loss of control. The aircraft crashed into a hotel shortly after leaving the ground, killing all 109 onboard and four people on the ground.

The crash devastated the image of the Concorde. Already costly and facing declining demand, the accident accelerated its retirement. By 2003, Concorde flights ended permanently. The disaster marked the end of commercial supersonic travel and symbolized how one high-profile crash can end an entire era of aviation.