Concorde Scheduled to Fly to Test Site

An Air France Concorde will take to the skies Thursday pending final clearance from aviation authorities. The move is part of an effort to resume commercial flights of the supersonic jet after a crash in July that killed all 109 people on board shortly after takeoff from Paris. The Concorde will make a subsonic flight from Paris to Istres in southern France, where it will undergo a series of ground tests. French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot said he expects the Concorde to resume service later this year. In August, authorities barred the Concorde from flying after preliminary investigations showed that the doomed plane caught fire and plunged to the ground after debris from a burst tire caused underwing fuel tanks to rupture.