[2] The all-star cast includes George Kennedy, who appeared in all four films from the Airport series, and starring Alain Delon, Susan Blakely and Robert Wagner in the main roles.

Kevin Harrison, a corrupt arms dealer, attempts to destroy an American-owned Concorde on its maiden flight after one of the passengers, reporter Maggie Whelan, learns of his weapons sales to communist countries during the Cold War.

Maggie reports on the flight the following day, which leads to a story of Harrison and his Buzzard surface-to-air missile project.

Due to the damage, the plane lands at Le Bourget Airport instead of Charles de Gaulle.

After being paid by Harrison, a mechanic, Froelich, places a device in the Concorde's cargo door control unit, timed to open during flight.

Metrand sees the carpet tear down the middle of the aisle, signifying the fuselage is under tremendous stress and the aircraft is about to break apart.

With only back-up systems available, the pilots attempt to fly to Innsbruck, Austria, for an emergency landing, but they are losing too much fuel.

Metrand realizes they are flying towards a ski area he knows along the Alps in Patscherkofel; they could make a belly landing on a mountain-side.

Harrison, en route back to Washington, sees the newscast in his private plane and commits suicide.

[4] The plot to bring down the Concorde in the second act of the film was very similar to the Turkish Airlines Flight 981 accident six years earlier, in that an explosive decompression (and subsequent loss of control) was caused by the cargo hold door blowing off in flight, although it is not known if this was coincidence, or indeed the writers' direct inspiration.

"[13] Variety′s review called the film "Definitely not for sophisticates, Concorde is a throwback to the old popcorn genre, and rather enjoyable at that" but noted that "unintentional comedy still seems the Airport series' forte".

"[15] David Ansen of Newsweek wrote, "You have to respect a movie so single-mindedly dedicated to High Silliness.

"[16] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film one star out of four and called the story "ludicrous.

"[17] Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "The disaster they face is as contrived as the characters.

"[18] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post called the film "nearly as funny as The Big Bus, albeit unwittingly.

[24] On July 25, 2000, F-BTSC, as Air France Flight 4590, was hit by runway debris on takeoff, igniting the leaking fuel on the wing's fuel tank (part of the fuselage), and causing the aircraft to crash in the small French town of Gonesse, killing all 109 passengers and crew on board, as well as four on the ground.