Rhianna Benson
Exactly 25 years ago today, an Air France flight heading from Paris to New York crashed just 77 seconds after take-off, killing a staggering total of 113 people.
On the anniversary of the deadly collision, the harrowing final words that doomed pilot Captain Christian Marty uttered to his crew have been unearthed, reminding spectators of the unfathomable loss.
Flight 4590 was a Concorde passenger jet, famed for supersonic high speed motion that meant it could cross the Atlantic in about 3.5 hours instead of the typical seven to eight hours. Sadly, however, it marked the only fatal Concorde incident that occurred during its 27 years in operation.
After taking off from Charles De Gaulle airport, the jet rolled over debris which had been dropped by a previous aircraft, triggering the explosion of one of its tyres. Fragments from the tyre then violently struck other segments of the plane, including landing gear and the fuel tank.
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Just one minute and 17 seconds after take off, the jet lost power in both of its engines.
Around this time, crew were notified by air traffic control that the plane had caught fire, with flames visible from the floor below.
Seconds later, it crashed at full speed into a hotel in the small French town of Gonesse.
With today (25 July) marking the 25th anniversary of the fatal crash, the transcript between the captain and co-pilot has resurfaced, hearing that the crew had no idea the jet was on fire until being informed by Charles De Gaulle airport crew.
Seconds after take-off, a representative of Paris' control tower tells Captain Marty: "Concorde zero... 4590, you have flames. You have flames behind you."
The flight engineer then adds: "Breakdown eng... Breakdown engine two. Cut engine two."
An unidentified voice then notes: "It's burning badly, huh."
"Cut engine two," the flight engineer adds again.
Marty then tells them: "Engine fire procedure [sound of switch, end of ringing]".
"Warning, the airspeed indicator, the airspeed indicator, the airspeed indicator," his co-pilot Jean Marcot adds.
Control tower staff can then be heard telling the crew: "It's burning badly and I'm not sure it's coming from the engine."
Several seconds later, Marty then reveals that he and his co-pilot are attempting to accumulate more speed, in a bid to quickly land at the nearby Le Bourget airport.
"Fire service leader, uh ... the Concorde, I don't know its intentions, get yourself in position near the south doublet," the control tower staff added.
Sadly, however, seconds later, Marty uttered: "Too late... no time."
The control tower representative then noted: "Fire service leader, correction, the Concorde is returning to runway zero nine in the opposite direction."
"No time, no," pilot Marty responds again.
The transcript then sees his co-pilot urgently responding: "Le Bourget, Le Bourget. Negative, we are trying Le Bourget [airport to land]."
Seconds later, Marcot simply says: "No."
16 seconds later, the transcript ends, with the plane plummeting into the Hôtelissimo Les Relais Bleus Hotel.
All those on board were killed in the collision, alongside four on the ground.
The devastating crash would become a factor in the retirement of Concorde in November 2003, with a decline in passengers numbers resulting from both the crash and high cost of flying on board.