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In the 34 years since its maiden flight Concorde has become an aviation
icon
2003: Concorde lands for last time
England have
The legendary supersonic aircraft, Concorde, has landed at the end of its
last commercial passenger flight, amid emotional scenes at Heathrow airport.
The final transatlantic flight, ending 27 years of supersonic history,
carried 100 celebrities from New York and touched down at 1605 BST.
As it did so, a huge cheer went up from the thousands of people gathered by
the runway on a specially-built grandstand.
Two other Concorde flights had already landed a few minutes earlier, one
carrying competition winners on a flight from Edinburgh, and the other
completing a trip for invited guests around the Bay of Biscay.
All three aircraft taxied to the BA engineering base, the crews hanging out
of the cockpit windows and waving Union Jacks to the crowds.
Actress Joan Collins, who has flown Concorde about 10 times and was on
board the flight from New York, said the end of the era was "tragic".
"The first time I ever flew Concorde was a bit of a white knuckle ride.
"I am more used to it now, it's so wonderful to make the journey in three
and a half hours," she said.
British Airways has decided to retire the famous aircraft because it is no
longer profitable. Concorde's running costs have been spiralling at a time when
ticket sales were dwindling in the wake of a catastrophic crash near Paris
Charles de Gaulle airport three years ago in which 113 people died.
British Airways chief executive officer Rod Eddington said there was a
"mixture of sadness and celebration" about the retirement.
"It is a wonderful plane, an icon, but its time has come," he said. "It's
an old plane - it doesn't look it - but it was designed in the 50s and built in
the 60s."
The plane, which cost passengers ?,000 a ticket, reached 1,350mph (2,172
kph) and 60,000 feet (18,288 metres) over the Atlantic Ocean during its final
flight.
BA and Air France, who worked jointly on developing the aircraft, made an
announcement on the retirement in April. The French Concorde's final flight was
in May.
A massive fire broke out
2001: Swiss tunnel ablaze after head-on crash
Artificially 1969: FilmTheTheAA At least 10 people have died after two
lorries crashed head-on and caught fire inside the Gotthard road tunnel in
Switzerland.
Part of the tunnel roof has reportedly collapsed and police are preparing
more casualties.
Intense heat and thick black smoke are preventing rescuers getting close to
the scene.
Police spokesman Marco Ritter said: "The heat is too high and there is zero
visibility."
The smoke is thought to be from tyres being transported by one of the
vehicles involved in the crash which happened about 2 kilometres (1 mile) from
the south exit.
Some drivers abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot. It is thought the
ventilation system has been used as a means of escape along with the emergency
exits.
"Suddenly there was smoke and I couldn't see anything" said lorry driver
Marco Frischknecht.
"I tried to reverse but there were so many people I had to give up" He
said.
The tunnel, at 15km (10 miles) long, is the second largest in the world and
the main route from Zurich through the Alps to Northern Italy.
It has been heavily used since the closure of the Mont Blanc tunnel in 1999
following a fire in which 39 people died.
The accident is likely to fuel already-strong opposition to the heavy
traffic flow in narrow Alpine tunnels.
"This was an accident that was just waiting to happen. The Gotthard tunnel
has just one lane in each direction in a single corridor" said local politician
and tunnel safety campaigner Markus Gisler.
Vocabulary:
knuckle: the joint of a finger, particularly when made prominent by the
closing of the fingers(指节;关节)
ventilation : the act of supplying fresh air and getting rid of foul
air(通风) |
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:22:08