Transcript for This day in history: July 25, 2000

For the first time in more than thirty years at concorde crashed first time and its lifetime and that's where we start. It was an Air France concorde charted by a German tour companies just taken off from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. When something cataclysmic happens in at least one of the four inches. In this unique picture you conceal long stream of smoke and fire has the pilot struggled to gain altitude he failed. And when the plane crashed in the grounds of a small rural hotel in good mess just outside Paris. A hundred passengers mostly German one American nine crew all French and four people on the ground were killed. Our first report is from ABC's Sheila Macvicar who is in good nest tonight Q. There were a few hundred yards from where the plane went down a place it even at this late hour of the night continues to be crowded. It's investigators and firemen. The impact of the crash blackened the grounds of the small hotel on the edge of Paris. The deadly in the fields the plane was destroyed. The wheels could be seen a short distance from the hotel. Amateur video showed the scene soon after the crash the hotel was in flames there were still people inside. We couldn't do anything for them because a smoke was so sick he says. When I broke the window we were surrounded by flames we had to leave. Several people were out in the fields or on the roads as the concorde approached. I was actually traveling in taxi toward the airport to catch point and in the distance we could see he concluded across. Beginning to cycle of the one of the re engines. Burst into flames suddenly become cool continued to. Technical. It never gained much altitude French officials confirmed that almost immediately after take off one of the concordes to left engines caught fire. Eyewitnesses said the plane turns a left a few miles southwest of the airport. Apparently the pilot was trying to turn back or to land at one of the smaller airfields nearby. It was too late. It up when pony the Plame was trying to turn he says and it fell back down there was already a fire a fire on the plane it started falling backwards. In the minstrel of the whole plane plummeted about 200 feet into the ground. And there was a huge huge bottle. Most of the passengers were German tourists headed for a trip on this looks three liner. A dream ship cruise it was called to the Caribbean and then says America. Tonight this small community is closed off except for the people who live here and the investigators. We're trying to learn what it was the cause the first ever crash of a concorde. And late tonight the French ministry of transport has reported that the five remaining concordes flown by Air France and be grounded. Until officials know what happens Peter. Thank Sheila Sheila Macvicar outside Paris French investigators couldn't get right into the crash scene until several hours after it because the hot fire. Apparently made it too dangerous the French government has the plane's black boxes have now been found it is of course. Too early to tell what caused this crash but many people sought and the first thing. Investigators will be looking at is engine failure here's ABC's Lisa stark. Aviation experts say the design of the Concord requires high speed and high engine thrust at takeoff and severe engine trouble could prove. Catastrophic. If you do lose not one but two engines at a critical point right or rotate. You're probably not going to be able to sustain flight and your flight path to disaster would look very much the same as what we see here. In response to the crash British Airways canceled its concorde flights for today and Air France grounded its fleet. Air France says the plane that crashed underwent a routine maintenance check just four days ago and more extensive checks in April in last September. The plane began flying in 1980 and had logged nearly 121000. Flight hours nearly 4000 takeoffs and landings. That's hardly any time for a playing its age but the car. Flies so fast under four hours Paris to New York that it doesn't long much time in the air still supersonic flight takes its told. The fact that the engines have to be run really at their maximum performance both on takeoff and ordered to go through the sound barrier means that the engines are stressed. Very hard each flight. The plane is also designed with a boat engines in a single hot. There is always the concern which has never been a problem before that if you catastrophic Lee had one explode it could damage the adjacent engine. And shows yesterday it was revealed that microscopic. Cracks were found in the wings of some of the concorde's. Air France says the plane that crashed was not one of them. Lisa stark ABC news.

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