When Passenger Planes Surpassed the Speed of Sound

The Concorde supersonic passenger jet, which first flew commercially 50 years ago, could travel from New York to London in under three hours at speeds over 1,300 mph using powerful turbojet engines and a specialized delta-wing design. Despite its incredible speed and luxury appeal to celebrities and royalty, the plane was retired in 2003 due to high costs, fuel inefficiency, noise complaints, safety concerns following a fatal 2000 crash, and environmental impacts.