Concorde lands for last time

Concorde has flown for the very last time today, with a special flight from Heathrow Airport to the Bristol site where the supersonic plane was made.

The Duke of York joined crowds to welcome the flight at Airbus UK's Filton airfield where the plane will eventually go on display.

At Filton a sombre silence fell over the crowd as the plane roared to touch down at 1.05pm.

The showers momentarily stopped as the craft glided home to rest amid a huge cheer from spectators.

One hundred British Airways staff who have worked on Concorde were on board the flight which took off from Heathrow at around 10.40am today.

Hundreds lined the surrounding roads of London's biggest airport to see the plane take off in grey skies.

Twice speed of sound

Under the command of Captain Les Brodie and with Concorde chief pilot Mike Bannister also in the cockpit, the Concorde travelled west towards Bristol and south-west England.

It reached around 1,300mph - twice the speed of sound - south of Ireland before turning towards the north Atlantic and then back towards the Channel Islands.

The supersonic plane, co-piloted by Captain Paul Douglas, turned towards Southampton and then travelled down the M4 corridor and flew over Filton at around 12.45pm before landing.

The Duke was receiving the 1979-built plane on behalf of the Bristol community.

Initially, the Concorde - the last to be manufactured by Airbus predecessor company British Aerospace - will remain to the north of the airfield while a special exhibition area is prepared adjacent to the end of the runway.

The plane will probably be on show by next spring and it is hoped it will eventually be displayed in an aviation heritage centre planned for Filton.

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