The cause of the appalling tragedy in Paris which took the lives of 113 people yesterday will take some time and thorough investigation to determine. Early suggestions of a link between cracks in the wings of other Concordes in both Air France's and British Airways' fleets have been discounted strongly. There may well be no connection between the cracks and the horrific accident but regulatory authorities, and indeed the travelling public, will need to be reassured. Photographic evidence, supported by eyewitness accounts, points to a very substantial engine fire even as the aircraft was barely airborne. Within two minutes, the plane had crashed into a hotel at Gonesse, southwest of Charles de Gaulle airport, with the loss of all on board and four people on the ground. Witnesses spoke of a massive explosion. Whatever the precise cause of the tragedy, there must now be serious doubts over the future of what has become the world's most glamorous passenger aircraft. Just as the Titanic represented the most luxurious form of trans-Atlantic travel in its time (albeit briefly), Concorde became the preferred means of transport of the rich and famous at the end of the 20th century.
Since its arrival on the aviation scene in 1969, the Concorde had established a record as one of the safer commercial aircraft. Only one major scare received international publicity when, in 1979, a Concorde blew all its tyres on landing. A design modification ensued. The safety record should, however, be looked at in the context of how few Concordes have been in operation. Only 13 of the planes were in service up to yesterday - a tiny number compared to the Boeing 737 which has become the workhorse of the commercial aviation industry.
Apart from the recent appearance of wing cracks there had been other indications that the Concorde was ageing. In one case a British Airways Concorde had to make two emergency landings in the space of 24 hours; in another a piece of the tail plane fell off in mid flight. There were 130 incidents involving Concorde aircraft between August 1998 and July 1999. Air safety officials described this record as being similar to that of other commercial jets.
While attention will now focus on Concorde's safety there are increasing fears of accidents as the air transport industry enters a period of huge growth on a global basis. Dublin Airport, for example, is in the process of doubling in size in order to cater for more than 20 million passengers annually - a figure that experts would have regarded as ridiculously high just a few years ago. With more flights and more passengers there is a statistical likelihood of more accidents. Some industry analysts have forecast an average of one fatal accident daily in the medium-term future.
Air tragedies, horrific though they are, have played their part in making the industry safer. There are few more meticulous and painstaking operations than those launched to discover the cause of accidents to commercial airliners. The lessons learned are put into practice as a matter of urgency. When the increasing number of passengers and the greater number of miles travelled are taken into consideration, air travel is likely to remain an extremely safe mode of transport.