Flight of the Concorde Back to Intrepid

The New York Times
By Patrick McGeehan
October 16, 2008


This Concorde supersonic jet, shown on a barge at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum in 2006, will be returned there on Monday.

In a rare event, to say the least, a Concorde supersonic jet is scheduled to land in Jersey City this afternoon.

Luckily for Jersey City, no airport is needed: This one will be arriving from New York on a barge guided by a tugboat. After a weekend layover at a boatyard there, the plane is bound for Pier 86 in Manhattan, the restored home base of the Intrepid Sea Air & Space Museum.

The Concorde, owned by British Airways, has been on loan to the museum since it stopped flying five years ago. It sat on a barge tied to the pier and was open to the museum?s visitors.

When the city began rebuilding the pier in late 2006, the Concorde was moved to a recreation center at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, where it has been on display. While there this summer, the 203-foot-long plane had its nose knocked off by a moving truck.

But museumgoers need not worry: With a new needle-tipped nose cone now in place, the plane will be sporting its distinctive profile when it is hoisted by a giant crane onto the end of the pier on Monday morning.