Concorde Airborne Again Briefly...Lifts Off Intrepid On Way to Rehab in Brooklyn

For a few moments gawkers on the West Side of Manhattan recently may have thought they were seeing things: the Concorde that last flew in 2003 and has been spending its days a popular attraction aboard the Intrepid Air & Space Museum was airborne again. At least it may have appeared that way if you did not notice the crane lifting it off the carrier’s flight deck.

The British Airways Concorde supersonic aircraft was temporarily removed from pier 86 of the Intrepid Museum on Aug. 9th on its way to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for restoration purposes. During the three month period that the plane will be at the Navy Yard, it will be stripped down to bare metal, repainted, and restored to its original state. Since its arrival in 2003, the plane has been captivating visitors with its sleek design and impressive history. The famed Concorde aircraft was manufactured first in the late 1960s and flown by British Airways and Air France for 27 years before it was retired for good in 2003. The plane was known for its speed: it still holds the record for the fastest transatlantic crossing by a passenger jet, and could fly from London to New York and back in the time that it took typical commercial aircrafts to go one way. The Concorde weighed 173,500 lbs and was capable of holding a maximum load of 412,000 lbs, making it also one of the most weight efficient aircrafts of its time. Despite the incredible capabilities of the Concorde, the plane did not prove to be cost efficient for these two airlines. The Concorde required a tremendous amount of maintenance and as flights continued to have empty seats throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, it became clear that the upkeep simply wasn’t worth it. The Concorde also made a tremendous amount of noise when it took off- residents nearby the airport in New York and Washington would complain constantly that they couldn’t stand the 115 decibel take-offs and 118 decibel landings. Measures were taken to reduce the noise of the Concorde in the late ‘70s and onward but the complaints continued. Rising oil prices certainly didn’t help matters either, as maintenance became increasingly more expensive for airlines. The Concorde airplane was frequented in its heyday by high brow celebrities like Vogue editor Anna Wintour, actors Joan Collins and Sean Connery, and rock star Mick Jagger; this helped make the plane marketable, but not enough to keep it in the airline game. “It is difficult to see the Concorde depart even for a short amount of time,” says museum President SusanMarenoff-Zausner, “but this necessary restoration will ultimately allow us to present this awe-inspiring technological marvel and continue to tell the stories behind it for the foreseeable future.” The Concorde renovation comes at the same time as a renovation to its home- pier 86.The renovation will be finished in the spring of 2024 and is set to clear out an additional 4,000 square feet of parkland for public use. The museum expects that the refurbished Concorde and additional public space will bring new visitors.