'Billion to one chance' of new Concorde disaster

The British Civil Aviation Authority says there is less than a one in a billion chance Concorde will crash again.

It says stronger tyres, bullet-proof fuel tank liners and armoured wiring will prevent a repeat of last year's Paris disaster.

British Airways will resume Concorde passenger services next month.

British and French air regulators have agreed to return airworthiness certificates to the aircraft once the agreed manufacturers' changes had been put in place.

Mike Bell, the CAA's head of design and production standards, told a briefing at the CAA's headquarters in central London that Michelin has produced a tyre that is much less likely to burst than the existing model.

A metal object left on the runway at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris caused a tyre burst on the Air France Concorde which led to debris rupturing a fuel tank.

Mr Bell said: "We do not now believe it is possible to get a hole with a sustained fire on a Concorde... We believe that with the new tyre not being able to rupture and throw up a large piece of rubber you cannot get that scenario again."

Mr Bell says the new tyres are the "principal part" of the safety modifications. He dismissed speculation that other factors had contributed to the crash, including that the plane was overloaded with both luggage and fuel.

Mr Bell also ruled out the possibility that the crew had shut down the blazing engine too quickly, leaving them unable to get properly airborne.

The Air France crew extinguished the engine as the plane was taking off, whereas it is understood under British Airways regulations they would have waited until the plane was 400ft off the ground. But Mr Bell said: "At that point in my view the aircraft was doomed."