The Concorde… Airport ’79 (1979) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Kevin Harrison is a corrupt arms dealer selling weapons to communist countries during the Cold War. Reporter Maggie Whelan discovers his illegal Buzzard surface-to-air missile project and plans to expose him. To prevent his crimes from being revealed, Harrison orchestrates the Concorde's destruction during its maiden flight, reasoning that killing everyone aboard will bury his scandal permanently.

Foreshadowing: Early in the film, Harrison's warning that someone is framing him masks his own role in planning the attack.

• kevin harrison
• arms dealer
• sabotage
• maggie whelan
• concorde

Harrison hires mechanic Froelich to plant a timed device inside the Concorde's cargo door control unit during pre-flight preparation in Paris. The device is set to trigger during the Moscow-bound flight, forcing the cargo door open at altitude. This causes rapid decompression, tears the cabin floor, and damages primary flight controls, creating a catastrophic in-flight emergency.

Foreshadowing: At the Paris security checkpoint, Froelich accidentally drops the money he was paid for the job, hinting at the bribery and conspiracy.

• cargo door
• sabotage device
• froelich
• timed device
• decompression

After the cargo door tears away, the decompression damages the primary flight controls, leaving the pilots with only backup systems. With fuel running low and no functioning hydraulics, Captain Patroni and Captain Metrand cannot perform a normal landing. They spot a snow-covered mountainside near Patscherkofel in Innsbruck and execute a risky belly landing, gliding the aircraft down without extending the landing gear to avoid structural collapse.

Foreshadowing: The timeline builds tension as the Concorde diverts from its original path, forcing the crew to find emergency landing options.

• belly landing
• alps
• innsbruck
• patscherkofel
• emergency landing

The timed sabotage device forces the cargo door open during the transatlantic flight. The sudden opening tears the fuselage carpet, creates a rapid decompression, and damages critical hydraulic systems. This failure knocks out the primary flight controls, leaving the pilots to rely entirely on backup systems while managing a crippled aircraft at high altitude.

Foreshadowing: The earlier missile attack already damages the hydraulics, making the subsequent sabotage even more catastrophic.

• flight controls
• decompression
• hydraulics
• cargo door failure
• aircraft damage

Captain Joe Patroni and Captain Paul Metrand improvise using only backup systems to guide the Concorde. With limited ability to steer and no thrust reversers, they calculate a descent toward the Alps, coordinating with ski patrol who mark a landing path on the mountainside. Metrand's quick thinking helps the aircraft survive the turbulence and extreme angle of approach needed for the forced belly landing.

Foreshadowing: The pilots' combined decades of experience are introduced early, setting up their ability to handle the crisis.

• joe patroni
• paul metrand
• pilots
• emergency landing
• backup systems

The first missile attack comes from an off-course surface-to-air missile that locks onto the Concorde during its transatlantic flight, this appears to be part of Harrison's overall sabotage plan to ensure the aircraft is destroyed. The USAF scrambles F-15 fighters to intercept it. A second attack involves an F-4 Phantom II, which damages the jet's hydraulics before French Mirage F1s can assist. The attacks create confusion and add to the immediate danger the crew must survive.

Foreshadowing: Harrison's plan involves multiple layers of attack, with the drone test reprogrammed to target the Concorde.

• missile attack
• f-15
• mirage f1
• surface-to-air missile
• f-4 phantom

After the Concorde crashes in the Alps and Maggie broadcasts her exposé about Harrison's arms dealing, he watches the news report from his private plane en route to Washington. Realizing he has been exposed and has no way out, Harrison takes his own life. His suicide removes the central villain but also underscores the consequences of his greed and desperation.

Foreshadowing: The film hints at Harrison's desperation as his schemes unravel and Maggie prepares to go public with the documents.

• kevin harrison
• suicide
• ending
• villain
• exposé

Maggie Whelan is an investigative reporter who uncovers Kevin Harrison's illegal arms deals to communist countries. She obtains documents proving his Buzzard missile project and refuses his bribe attempts to silence her. Throughout the crisis, she continues reporting from the Concorde and later broadcasts the story from the crash site, exposing Harrison's crimes even as the aircraft is destroyed.

Foreshadowing: Maggie's persistence in pursuing the story drives Harrison's desperation and fuels his sabotage plot.

• maggie whelan
• reporter
• investigation
• exposé
• documents

After the F-4 Phantom II attack damages the aircraft's hydraulics during the flight over European airspace, the Concorde cannot safely continue to its original destination. The crew decides to divert to Le Bourget Airport near Paris for an emergency landing. This landing is successful but leaves the aircraft damaged and sets up the later catastrophic sabotage during the subsequent leg to Moscow.

Foreshadowing: The hydraulic damage from the missile attack weakens the aircraft, making it more vulnerable to the later sabotage.

• le bourget
• divert
• emergency landing
• paris
• hydraulic damage

Yes, after the successful emergency belly landing in the Alps and the evacuation of all crew and passengers, the Concorde explodes seconds later at the crash site. The explosion destroys the aircraft entirely, marking the tragic end of the supersonic jet that was supposed to revolutionize air travel. The destruction underscores the film's theme about the cost of greed and corruption.

Foreshadowing: The film builds tension toward this final destruction as the culmination of the crisis.

• concorde explosion
• crash
• destruction
• alps
• aftermath