Concorde - The Fianl Day

TooMuch Opinion

Concorde – The Final Day

24th October, 2003

Having finally received confirmation that I could attend the Concorde Duty (as I termed it) I was presented with a choice. I could join up with the other members of the Support Unit at the Support Unit Headquarters in central London at 0800 or join them outside the Visitor’s Centre at Heathrow at 0900. As I live half an hour away from Heathrow in west London, the decision wasn’t difficult !

Leaving home at 0745 to allow plenty of time for the journey by bus, having decided that as there was likely to be no parking facilities available at Heathrow taking the car wasn’t a good idea, I then had to wait for half an hour for the appropriate but to take me to my destination ! Despite the reports of heavy traffic expected around Heathrow the journey didn’t take much longer than the timetabled 30 minutes, and after a short walk I found the Visitors’ Centre with the help of one of the armed Metropolitan Police officers on the northern perimeter road. (See the attached map.) In the UK, with the exception of the Diplomatic Protection Service, and certain Armed Response Units, the main airports are the only place you will see our police officers routinely armed, and it is still a little disconcerting to see police officers in full “flak vests” and large pistols on their hips. Inside the Terminals these officers are also armed with HK MP5 automatic rifles, but I saw none of those this Friday.

Arriving at the Visitors’ Centre, in the centre of the northern perimeter road, I found a few familiar faces ! A couple of the members of Feltham Division who regularly attend Brentford Football Club were there with their new ambulance – no surprise, as they work at Heathrow ! Soon we were joined by a large, coach-sized Mobile (Treatment) Unit and a couple of other ambulances. It was clearly going to be a larger Duty than I had first thought, given the lack of any paperwork ! There was, in fact, an Operational Plan, but I hadn’t received it in time. More foot personnel arrived, but there was no sign of the Support Unit vehicle I was supposed to be meeting up with, and I was “reallocated” to the “main team”. This isn’t unusual, and on many occasions I’ve attended London duties in one Role, only to be reallocated to ambulance crew or AED Response Team duties once my specialist skills were known, or where there was a “gap” on the required cover. Whatever the original plans might say, once “on the ground” volunteers muck in and do the necessary; we are, after all, First Aiders first, ambulance/support/AED members second.

By now it was gone 1000, and the penultimate Concorde take-off was due. Those of us who could “read the signs” could tell from the constant stream of landing planes that there was no “slot” opening up just yet. It is interesting that Concorde gets special treatment whenever taking off or landing, primarily due to its restricted fuel capacity rather than its Speedbird One status, so it usually isn’t left hanging around when ready to depart. This meant that in this instance although the current setup was for take-offs to occur on Runway 09L and landings on 09R, Concorde, we had been told, would be taking off from 09R, so we should have a ringside view !

By 1030 there was still no let up in the landing planes, the cloud cover allowing us to see up to four planes on approach as they landed at approximately 90 second intervals. Mostly British Airways, there was an even mix of 747s and 737s/A320s, along with the occasional 757 and 767 and carriers of other airlines. A tent had been set up near our first aid post for refreshments for the staff present, which was us and the numerous “security” short-term-hire staff from Goldrange we were familiar with from Brentford, obviously for “crowd management” duties due to the expected 35,000 crowd. I took the opportunity to grab a coffee, and, Murphy’s Law kicking in right on cue, I was just leaving the tent when the load roar of engines signaled Concorde’s take-off run. Compared to the other airliners Concorde is actually quite small, so even from our location, maybe 100-200m north of runway, as Concorde passed us, close to Vr, she didn’t fill the sky. However, the sound was unmistakable, and as usual her Olympus engines were joined by a counterpoint from the numerous car alarms set off by her sonic wake ! After rotating, she headed skywards at her customary sharp climb angle. One down, one to go. In this instance, Concorde was flying up to Edinburgh, to return later in the day.

Soon after take-off the Support unit truck finally arrived, and I was able to join my Support colleagues. Apparently they’d had a flat battery back at HQ, so I was glad that I’d decided to make my own way to Heathrow ! We were soon relocated to the old Fire Station, and after driving into the centre of the Heathrow complex housing the numerous maintenance sheds and Terminals in an attempt to find our new location we eventually made our way back to the northern perimeter track, past the Visitors’ Centre and parked up at the old Fire Station, now used as the central dispatch point for the London Ambulance Service (LAS) vehicles based at the airport. This would have provided a clear view of the nearest runway – if it wasn’t for the fact that a ring of 6-foot-high green plastic mesh had been attached to the fence encircling Heathrow in an attempt to dissuade onlookers and keep the access roads clear ! Fat chance today ! As we had driven around looking for the LAS station we passed numerous clumps of people with seats and cameras and binoculars camped out in strategically placed locations !

Then it was the waiting game that was familiar to anyone covering London duties. There was a rumor of another take-off around 1400, and as I watched the planes taxiing around before take off and after landing I chatted to a retired lady who had come up from “the West country” (around Devon, Somerset, Dorset etc.) to see the final events. Where she lived Concorde regularly flew over her house when westbound for the States ! She had a daughter living nearby, and eventually retired there for lunch.

By now it was time we got some lunch as well, so we returned to the Visitor’s Centre where we were able to get some sandwiches and coffee in one of the Staff rooms as well as picking up some souvenirs from the mezzanine floor above. Then it was back to the LAS HQ.

Wandering around the base, we discovered that there was actually a way of gaining access to the roof through the “Station Commanders’ Office” so we made our way up there to join a gaggle of Fire Brigade and LAS members. At approximately 30-40 foot off the ground, this gave us a view over the top of the fence. Much better ! In fact, we had a panoramic view of the airport, and could watch the planes as they moved around. To our far left we could just make out the unmistakable shape of Concorde !

Its interesting, but unlike any other plane (with, possibly, the exception of Air Force One) everyone refers to Concorde in the singular. In fact, some people are genuinely surprised to hear that there is, in fact, more than one ! Today would be the obvious event to disprove that, as, we now heard, Concorde (still singular) would be making a historic triple landing around 1600, the first (and only) time that three would be seen together (other than to the select personnel charged with her/their maintenance.)

Around 1400 (I didn’t note the exact time) we saw movement to our left, and everyone on the roof got their cameras and videos ready. Some present weren’t quite sure where to “point” to get lift-off, and I was able to give some advice along the lines of between which perimeter lighting poles she was likely to rotate ! Then, with a lovely roar of engines, Concorde started her take-off run. Again, she seemed rather small against the width of the runway, but as she rotated a little to our left, maybe one third of the way along the runway, the spectacular sight was unmistakable ! It was, again, accompanied by the sound of numerous car alarms ! Many present tried to control the lumps in their throats, and remember that these were the same men and women who routinely see the effects of car wrecks, house fires and “man’s inhumanity to man” often in close-up. This final take-off was another special, for BA staff, flying out to circle the Bay of Biscay at Mach 2 and return.

After a further journey back to the Visitor’s Centre for refreshments we in the Support Unit once again made our way up to the roof. By now the wind must have changed, as we could see that now the planes were taking off from the far Runway 09R and landing on Runway 09L. Fascinating to watch, I suddenly caught sight of something out of the corner of my eye. Looking skywards I saw the wonderful, unmistakable sight of Concorde as she passed at almost right angles to the runways heading north, presumably to circle in to land ! All eyes strained to our left and soon, in amongst the black dots appeared the familiar black elongated triangle ! As it drew nearer, and lower, we could make out behind a second. The first, on approach, gradually descended, the extreme nose-high angle of incidence unmistakable. Around us the firemen joked that it would be just their luck to get a “shout” just before the landing ! The first landing itself was (not really surprisingly) almost perfect, as Concorde touched down just past the “piano bars” on Runway 09L, slowed, then taxied almost to the end of the runway before turning left and coming to a stop on one of the taxiways that led to Terminal Three. Toward the middle of the airport we could see a sea of orange and yellow reflective jackets as everyone lined up to mark this final, sad event. Soon the second Concorde made a similar landing, with number 3 close behind. These were the two Concordes that we’d seen take off along with the final trans-Atlantic trip from JFK that had taken off around mid-day. There was, apparently, less than 5 minutes separating each landing, but somehow it seemed longer. Then, as each Concorde followed the same route, we had the incredible sight of all three slowly taxiing past Terminal Three in turn and in line. From our vantage point we could see a sea of flash lights as everyone tried to record the event. Eventually each in turn turned right and disappeared into the central building area, heading for the hangar where select BA staff would be having their farewell party.

Everyone now descended from the roof, a sense of finality pervading the group as literally and figuratively the sun set on the end of the era of supersonic travel. Returning for the last time to the Visitors’ Centre rendezvous point we ended the duty watching the silhouettes of the conventional airliners as they landed and took off in the dying light of the day, and listening out as some of the emergency vehicles responded to the occasional incident (“pedestrian Vs. articulated lorry” was one of the more colourful !) A chill setting in, we were eventually stood down just before 1900 and I was able to catch a lift from an ambulance returning to Uxbridge. Despite the fact that I’d had nothing to do all day (in this case a bonus) I cherished the memories of the day. We all knew that we’d have had a far better view if we’d stayed at home and watched it on TV, but at the end of the (long) day there really wasn’t any substitute for having BEEN THERE.

Alastair Monk

November 2003

Heathrow Diagram

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