When Concorde took off for the final time in 2003 pilots at JFK Airport did something unheard of

Concorde took its final flight in commercial service on October 24th, 2003, with the aircraft flying from New York’s JFK to the UK’s Heathrow.

Footage of Concorde’s last flight from America was seen around the globe, with the aircraft performing a dramatic takeoff.

In that footage, the pilots also on the ground at JFK did something they normally wouldn’t, as the airliner bid farewell to America one last time.

It led to some of the most spectacular footage of the aircraft ever seen, with it marking the last ever Concorde movement at the famous American airport.

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With pilots in other aircraft knowing this was Concorde’s last takeoff from JFK, they did something normally unheard of.

All of them asked, via JFK’s control tower, if they could remain where they were to watch the aircraft take off for its final flight.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the controllers allowed them to do it, and they all sat back to watch the airliner depart.

Concorde blasted down the runway and lifted off into the air, with the late afternoon sun gleaming as it did so.

News channels all over the world broadcast the final flight footage. And ground workers were seen standing and watching the unique jet depart for Heathrow.

The aircraft performed its customary sharp turn to the left as it began its flight to London.

The flight was numbered BA002, and Concorde G-BOAG had the honor of flying from JFK to Heathrow.

Concorde first took flight in 1969, and it was jointly developed by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC).

Due to overland bans on sonic booms, orders for the jet fell through.

Only British Airways and Air France operated Concorde, flying it from 1976 to 2003.

Its sole rival was the Soviet Tupolev Tu-144, which flew in commercial service for just one year.

As a result, the craft became synonymous with the transatlantic run from Paris and London to New York.

Concorde was the fastest aircraft to cross the Atlantic, regularly doing so in no more than three hours.

The final flight of all took place on November 26th, 2003.

This was with aircraft G-BOAF, which flew to its new home at Bristol Filton Airport.

Filton was where all the British models had been built.

Of the 20 aircraft built, 18 are preserved in museums and at airports across the globe.

But that might not be the last we hear of supersonic craft, as the FAA plans to review the sonic boom ban that’s stood for 50 years.

So we may see Concorde-like planes cruising the skies again soon.

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