London : British Airways on Tuesday began lining the fuel tanks of its Concorde jets with the same type of rubber used in bullet-proof vests, in a move aimed at making the supersonic jet safe enough to fly again this spring. Chief BA Concorde Pilot Mike Bannister said changes to the plane's delta-shaped wings, were intended to prevent a fuel leak that caused an Air France Concorde to crash in a ball of flames last July, killing 113 people."The key part of returning Concorde to safety is to ensure that the massive fire can't happen again and we're endeavouring to do that, by ensuring the massive fuel leak can't happen again," Mr Bannister said in an interview.BA spokesman Michael Blunt said, it would take eight to 10 weeks to install the kevlar-rubber lining, into the interior of the fuel tanks and strengthen the undercarriage wiring for each of the airline's seven luxury jets - modifications that will cost BA a total of 17 million pounds.
Ground tests on modifications to one Air France Concorde, are scheduled to start on Thursday at Istres, near Marseilles, after French aviation authorities earlier, gave the jet a one-month clearance to fly to the testing ground.
Mr Bannister himself will then test "Alpha Foxtrot" next month- the first of BA's Concorde's to be modified.
MrBlunt said BA expected aviation authorities to reinstate Concorde's overall air-worthiness certificate, and hoped service would gradually be resumed with one daily London to New York flight in the spring. As the sleek, needle-nosed jets wait at London's Heathrow airport, they are being fitted with new cabin interiors - including burgundy velvet cushions and a blue laser stream which shoots through the jet when it breaks the sound barrier.
French accident investigators believe that July's crash was caused, when the Air France Concorde ran over a metal strip on the runway as it took off, bursting a tyre that sprayed chunks of rubber at the fuel tanks.
The Kevlar-rubber that will line Concorde's fuel tanks has never been fixed on civil planes before. Used in flak-jackets to shield bullets, it is also regularly fitted in military helicopters and Formula One racing cars to resist fire.
The liner is made up of tailor made sections - between four and six feet long and between one foot and 18 inches wide - that fit into the wing tanks. Strong but flexible, its aim will be to protect the Concorde tanks even if they are punctured. "Should the underside of the tank become punctured, the tank-liner is sucked down into the resulting hole. Because it is flexible, it plugs the hole," Mr Bannister said.
Like investigations into all air accidents, BA hopes to learn valuable lessons in air safety from the Concorde crash.
Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
