Concorde Jet Loses Section of Tail, Lands Safely

A supersonic Concorde jet carrying 100 Americans dropped a nine-foot piece of its tail over the South Pacific during an attempt to set a speed record, but it landed safely and passengers were reported eager to try again.

The tail section of the British Airways plane ripped off Wednesday about 25 minutes after the plane left Christchurch, New Zealand, for Sydney 1,000 miles away. Passengers said the plane shuddered, but the aircraft landed in Sydney about an hour later. No one was injured.

The plane is attempting to set speed records for each of 12 legs on a three-week trip around the world. The passengers, including commentator William F. Buckley Jr., each paid $39,000 for the trip, which began April 1 in London and is due to end there April 23.

Part of the rudder disintegrated while the jet was flying at 40,000 feet at about 1,500 m.p.h.--nearly twice the speed of sound, said Peter Stanton, an airline spokesman.

“It experienced a shudder while over the Tasman Sea that was thought to have been air turbulence,” Stanton said. “But it was a normal landing; there was no emergency.”

He said the control tower told the pilot, Capt. David Leney, that a piece of the tail was missing.

Concordes have been in commercial service since 1976 with no fatal accidents.