July 2000 Paris Crash

On July 25, 2000, Air France flight 4590, a Concorde chartered by the German tour operator Deilmann, crashed near Gonesse, France shortly after takeoff from Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. All 109 aboard were killed as well as four on the ground. Subsequent investigation determined that a metal strip on the runway, which had fallen off a Continental Airlines DC-10, caused a tire in the main landing gear to burst. Fragments from the tire punctured the Concorde's underwing fuel tanks, leading to the aircraft's demise and contributing to the grounding of the fleet.