When An F-14 Tomcat Captured Concorde Mid-flight In 1990

One evening in August 1990, two F-14 Tomcat crews leaving a training exercise in Saudi Arabia when they were alerted to go examine an unknown fast aircraft after an Aegis cruiser that was stationed in the Northern Red Sea detected it to come from the north.

According to the radar intercept officer, “One of the F-14s I instantly locked onto an extremely fast high-flying aircraft as we rotated our jet’s nose in the direction of the flight we received the Tomcat.”

They claimed to spot a white contrail above a stunning Concord silhouette. The jet was recognized as a supersonic airliner and allowed to continue flying. It won’t ever be known what the Concord was doing during the time of the war but US pilots allowed it to leave.

We can’t know for sure what this passenger plane was up to, or where we’re going. This forever remains a mystery.