G-BFKW. British Aircraft Corporation Concorde 102. c/n 214.

Was also registered as: G-BOAG.

 

This aircraft was built by British Aircraft Corporation at the Filton, Bristol plant. It was entered onto the British Aircraft Register as G-BFKW (CofR G-BFKW/R1) on January 27, 1978 and registered to the British Aerospace.

It flew for the time from Filton on April 21, 1978. Following its manufacture and flight trials the airframe remained unsold, as British Airways were reluctant to purchase it outright. It was then loaned to the airline via a 'sale or return' agreement to cover the six month period while Concorde G-BOAC underwent maintenance and repairs. It was registered to British Airways on January 29, 1980 with the Certificate of Registration (CofR G-BFKW/R2).

Following an aborted flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York on April 26, 1980 the aircraft was grounded on its return to London with a water contimanated hydraulic system. The contamination had induced an intake ramp failure at Mach 2, which in turn lead to engine surges. The aircraft did not fly again for almost a year while repairs were carried out at a cost of some £1 million.

It was reregistered as G-BOAG (CofR G-BOAG/R1) on February 09, 1981 before re-entering service later that month. After a successful summer relaunch the Saturday Barbados flights came to an end, and the final flight for the season was flown by G-BOAG.

With a lack of parts for its Concorde fleet, British Airways grounded G-BOAG and it was used as its main spares source for a period of time up to 1984 when parts became available from the newly acquired aircraft G-BBDG. G-BOAG was retuned to service and was the first Concorde to fly in the 'Landor' livery in preparation for the eventual float of British Airways on the London Stock Exchange.

G-BOAG's Certificate of Airworthiness was cancelled on August 15, 2000 as a result of the crash of the Air France Concorde at Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris on July 25, 2000. This accident resulted in all Concordes being grounded.

This aircraft was fitted with the 'return to flight' modifications that had been mandated by the aircraft's manufacturer and the relevant airworthiness authorities.

The tyre manufacturer Michelin announced on June 07, 2001 that the tyres that were tested at Istres on the French Concorde F-BTSD would be fitted to all Concordes when they returned to service. On September 05, 2001 Certificates of Airworthiness were returned to modified Concordes by the British CAA and French DGAC. The CAA and DGAC announced that once each Concorde had been modified, its Certificates of Airworthiness would also be returned.

It was the third British Airways Concorde to re-enter service following the successful completion of these modifications and the necessary flight tests.

Tickets for Concorde services that were scheduled to recommence on November 07, 2001 went on sale on October 16, 2001. Sales were high and some flights were sold out in a matter of days

With Concorde's operational life coming to an end, G-BOAG operated the final BA002 flight from New York JFK to London Heathrow Airport on October 24, 2003, 24 Oct 2003. The flight was crewed by Captain Mike Bannister, Senior First Officer Jonathan Napier and Senior Engineering Officers David Hoyle and Robert Woodcock. It departed New York JFK at 7.28 am EST (12.38pm GMT) and landed at Heathrow Airport at 4.05 pm GMT. It achieved a maximum speed of Mach 2 and a height of 58,000 feet during this flight.

G-BOAG departed London Heathrow for the very last time on a positioning flight to New York JFK as flight BA9093C, en route to Seattle, WA. It departed London at 3.00 pm and arrived at New York at 2.00 pm EST on November 03, 2003. It then departed New York at 1.00 pm on November 05, 2003 to land at Seattle Boeing Field at 3.00 pm the same day. It is now preserved at the Boeing Museum of Flight, Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington.

On retirement G-BOAG had flown a total of 16,239 hours with 5,633 cycles. It flew a total of 5,066 supersonic speed cycles.

 

G-BOAG. British Airways - in the new livery at Fairford, July 1985.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1926-049.)

G-BOAG. British Airways - in the new livery at an unknown airport, May 1990.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1926-030.)