Scenes from onboard last flight from JFK

(24 Oct 2003)
1. Various, people boarding Concorde
2. Concorde staff saying goodbye
3. Door being closed
4. Passengers awaiting takeoff
5. View from window as plane takes off
6. Flight attendant serving champagne
7. Close shot, glass of champagne
8. Various of flight attendant serving food
9. Joan Collins, actress, with companion
10. Passengers in front of speed/height indicator
11. Speed indicator goes to MACH 2
12. Lord Marshall (left), Chairman of British Airways with champagne
13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Joan Collins, Actress
"I'm very sad not only for myself - because I've used this flight so many times between New York and London - but I'm very sad for the future of civil aviation, because as far as I'm concerned this was a huge step in technology in being able to travel at supersonic speeds, and the fact that its being phased out, I think its quite shocking and very saddening."
14. SOUNDBITE: (English) Darcy Bussell, Ballerina
"It's very weird to think that its not going to be in the skies any more. It's such a beautiful machine that glides so beautifully, as they said on the TV, that it was like a swan in the sky. And especially that now that I've had a child she says concorde concorde concorde you know. It's quite upsetting to think that its not going to be there any more."
15. Flight attendant with food
16. Tray of food
17. Close shot, food
18. Flight attendant serving food
19. View from cockpit over New York as Concorde takes off
20. Pilot
21. Hood raising over nose of plane
22. Array of technical indicators
23. View from cockpit with second Concorde visible (bottom left hand corner)
24. View over Heathrow Airport as Concorde comes in to land
25. Passengers clapping

STORYLINE:

Concorde's last flight from New York was made with every seat filled, a feat that had become increasingly rare for a plane that was a technological marvel but a commercial flop.

Flight 002 landed at London's Heathrow airport at 4:05 pm (1505 GMT), minutes after two other British Airways Concordes.

One flew from Edinburgh, Scotland, carrying winners of a competition, and the other had taken off from Heathrow an hour and a half earlier and carried invited guests on a loop over the Bay of Biscay.

The jet from New York's John F. Kennedy Airport carried 11 crew and 100 passengers, many of them celebrities, across the Atlantic in three hours and 30 minutes, at nearly twice the speed of sound.

As the plane left New York, it was an emotional moment for flight attendants and ground crew.

At the controls of the jet was Captain Michael Bannister, BA's chief Concorde pilot.

Passengers included broadcaster Sir David Frost, actress Joan Collins, model Christie Brinkley, ballerina Darcy Bussell and Formula One car racing boss Bernie Ecclestone.

Actress Joan Collin described Concorde's demise as "quite shocking and very saddening" and ballerina Darcy Bussell said it was "quite upsetting to think that its not going to be there any more".

After its Atlantic crossing, the delta-winged plane made a stately final approach west along the Thames, having been granted a low-altitude approach for a look at Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, among the sights of central London.

It was a bittersweet end to nearly 28 years of commercial supersonic travel and passengers applauded as the plane successfully completed its final touchdown.

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