The daughter of a flight engineer who was among 113 people killed in the Concorde crash has disclosed his final words to her. Sandrine Quignon-Fleuret, daughter of Gile Jardinaud, spoke for a Channel 4 documentary titled Concorde Crash Days That Shocked The World.
It has been 26 years since Air France flight 4590 burst into flames just 77 seconds after departing from Charles de Gaulle airport on July 25, 2000. The Paris flight was headed for New York. The crash marked the beginning of the end for the supersonic aircraft, with Concorde halting operations three years later.
Final conversation
Hours before the flight, Gile visited his daughter, who was relocating at the time. She recalled: “I was in a completely empty apartment. He came by and told me 'I just wanted to see my grandson and kiss you.' And he said to me, 'Well, I'm just taking one last flight to New York and then I'm spending a week of vacation with my grandson. I'm going to take care of him, help you with your move.' And so that's the last time I saw him.”
Sandrine described the famous image of the burning Concorde: “The famous image of the Concorde on fire, for many people it's just the Concorde burning, but for me I know that my father was on board. So when I see this image, my heart aches and I cry because it's not just a press image for me.”
Memories of her father
Gile and his wife raised their three children in a village in the south east of Paris. Sandrine recalled family holidays and flying with him to New York for her 18th birthday. She described him as devoted to his career, saying aviation was his “universe”.
Upon discovering the crash, she had to call her sister, who was 24 and holidaying in Barcelona. Battling tears, she said: “I was in the car, we were arriving at my mum's house and I told her at that moment. And that's the hardest memory. That brings things back. Sorry, I didn't want to cry.”
Crash details and aftermath
The aircraft crashed into a hotel in Gonesse, killing four people on the ground and bringing the total death toll to 113. After igniting, the pilots attempted to reach Le Bourget airport, but they lost power in one engine and were unable to speed up or gain altitude. A burst tyre was later confirmed as the cause.
Investigators stated: “The accident shows that the destruction of a tyre, an event that we cannot say will not recur, had catastrophic consequences in a short period of time, preventing the crew from rectifying the situation. The crew had no way of knowing about the nature of the fire nor any means of fighting it.”
Sandrine told the documentary about her father and the crew: “They did their job to the end, until the last second, I know that. I've heard the tapes. I've heard the cockpit recordings.”
Captain Christian Marty's final words were made public. The control tower informed him: “Concorde zero...4590, you have flames. You have flames behind you.” As they tried to gain speed, Mr Marty said: “Too late... No time.” His co-pilot stated: “Le Bourget, Le Bourget. Negative; we are trying Le Bourget.”
