Benson And Bennett On Concorde Forced To Make Emergency Landing

08/01/2000 7:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(8/1/00, 7 a.m. ET) - Guitarist-vocalist George Benson and singer Tony Bennett are both fine following an incident Sunday (July 30) in which the British Airways Concorde on which they were traveling was forced to make an emergency stop in Canada.

A crew member smelled gasoline in the cabin, and the flight--which was traveling from London to New York-- was diverted to Canada. The supersonic jet landed in the Gander, Newfoundland, airport. Although emergency vehicles were on hand at the airport, the landing was without incident. The 57 passengers aboard the Concorde were flown to New York on a Boeing 737 chartered by the airline. Sunday's emergency grounding took place after an Air France Concorde crashed outside Paris last Tuesday (July 25), killing 113 people.

Benson, who had been touring Europe in support of his latest album, Absolute Benson, returned home to New Jersey safely. He is currently resting comfortably at home, although he is a bit shaken by the incident. Yesterday (July 31) he released a statement about the emergency landing.

"I've always felt there is no greater ride across the Atlantic than the Concorde, which has always been my favorite. So although I was a little nervous because of the recent accident, I felt confident boarding the flight," he said. "We began to hear some strange noises, and the temperature began to increase in the part of the cabin where I was sitting. One of the crew members noticed a funny smell and notified the captain. I praise the captain for the way he handled the situation--he did not want to take any extra chances, and he put the safety of the passengers first. He made a great landing in Gander, Newfoundland, where we were made comfortable in the airport until they brought in a 737 to fly us to New York. We all made it home safely, and that is the important thing. British Airways was extremely professional in their handling of the situation."

Bennett also returned home to New York safely and released a statement in which he praised the pilot's handling of the grounding: "The pilot acted very responsibly in taking all precautions relating to the concerns they had during the flight, and the crew handled the situation with the utmost professionalism."

-- Lucy Tauss, New York

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