Analysis: Split policies on Concorde safety

By Transport reporter Tom Symonds

As the investigation into the Concorde crash continues, French and British aviation authorities are handling the safety concerns in very different ways.

France has grounded its planes, but Britain allows them to continue flying despite the fact that there are few differences between the fleets.

Air France has been forced to operate a completely 'fail-safe' policy. If none of its remaining five Concordes fly, there can be no concerns about safety.

That policy will probably remain in place until the French accident investigation begins to turn up some answers. Air France may not be happy with the decision - Concorde is not particularly profitable, and even less so when it is not flying.

Exact reasons for the crash could take a year to uncover

The problem for the airline is that its aviation authority cannot decide on a set of safety measures to be taken if flights are to begin again.

But a very different set of rules is operating in Britain, where the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is in essence allowing British Airways to formulate its own safety checks.

The CAA said it will not consider grounding Concorde at Heathrow unless the cause of the crash is known - and that will continue to be the policy as long as the investigation continues. So British Airways flies on.

BA safety chiefs had a meeting on Monday night to reconsider their response to the crash, but came to the same conclusion.

Special attention

Until they receive evidence to the contrary, they are happy that the aircraft is safe.

But extra maintenance checks have been added to the planes' schedules. Airframes, engines, and particularly tyres are all getting special attention.

Despite that, BA will inevitably come under further pressure if the Air France Concordes remain grounded for a long period of time.

The two countries appear out of step, and for now, there is no explanation why.