Scare for Brown as Concorde fails

Gordon Brown was caught up in a mid-air drama on Concorde when it suffered engine trouble on a trip to New York.

As soon as the Chancellor realised the plane was in trouble, he put down his papers and said to aide, Ed Balls: "I don't think there's much point going on with this at the moment." Mr Balls said: "We sat in silence and kept our innermost thoughts to ourselves."

Mr Brown and other passengers feared the worst when there was a loud bang and the British Airways pilot announced he was shutting down one of the engines.

While travelling at its normal speed of 1,336mph, the plane lurched forward and shook violently and had to be taken down to 35,000 feet as a safety precaution. Mr Brown was on his way to address American businessman and meet the UN Secretary General on Friday.

The pilot was able to complete the journey on three engines and landed the plane in New York, half an hour later then scheduled. Mr Brown's staff said he later admitted he found the experience unnerving.

Mr Balls said: "After the incident, the captain walked down the aisle and made light of it, saying it happened all the time.

"The Chancellor was fantastically impressed with the professionalism shown by the captain and crew in such difficult circumstances."