Flight engineer revealed what it was actually like to operate Concorde

A former Concorde flight engineer has revealed what it was like to operate the supersonic jet.

As ‘the most complex passenger aircraft ever made’, Concorde relied on its flight engineers to help fly the aircraft.

Flight engineer Warren Hazelby boarded his first supersonic flight travelling from London to New York in 2002.

His unique and rare insight will give you chills.

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Operating Concorde

He told CNN that despite the interior being smaller than the Boeing 707s and 747s he’d previously flown on, the controls were more complex.

His vantage point was from a seat directly behind the pilots.

He recalls being confronted with a huge control center of knobs and dials.

This complicated flight deck was in charge of Concorde’s aircraft systems, engines, fuel, and hydraulics.

Despite two decades as a flight engineer on other aircraft, it required six months of training on a Concorde simulator.

Concorde flew faster than any other commercial passenger plane in history to date.

“The first time you go through the sound barrier, that’s quite an experience.” Hazelby told CNN Travel.

Hazelby was tasked with operating the controls and making adjustments to ensure the aircraft safely punched through the sound barrier when it surpassed speeds of Mach 2.

He described feeling ‘very nervous’, barely having time for a cup of coffee, and being ‘exhausted’ by the end of a flight.

The role of a flight engineer

Described by former Concorde pilot, John Tye, who was among a group of former Concorde pilots who as a ‘vital’ member of the flight deck team, it was their job to address any issues during a flight.

“On Concorde – because all the time, we were changing speed, changing altitude – there was never a phase where there was very little to do,” he shared.

“There was always something for the flight engineer to do.

“Everything needed to be turned off and on, to be monitored.

“You had to watch the temperature gauges, you had to make sure there were no fuel leaks, you had to make sure everything was working correctly.”

He continues: “You had to either switch that component off, or possibly switch the standby system on. Or if it was a leak – obviously a fuel leak or hydraulically – you had to diagnose that.”

What’s standing in the way of supersonic aircraft today?

After Concorde took its final flight in 2003, there has been no commercial supersonic flight since.

Denver-based Boom Supersonic is currently working on a plane that will fly at Mach 1.7 – around one-sixth slower than Concorde but still twice the speed of conventional planes. 

NASA’s supersonic X-59 is on the brink of making history with its revolutionary first flight – and it’s hoped that, if successful, it could open the door for commercial supersonic planes in the future.