Although Concorde and the Tu-144 were the first aircraft to carry commercial passengers at supersonic speeds , they were not the first or only commercial airliners to break the sound barrier . On 21 August 1961 , a Douglas DC-8 broke the sound barrier at Mach 1.012 or 1,240 km/h ( 776.2 mph ) while in a controlled dive through 41,088 feet ( 12,510 m ) . The purpose of the flight was to collect data on a new design of leading-edge for the wing . A China Airlines 747 may have broken the sound barrier in an unplanned descent from 41,000 ft ( 12,500 m ) to 9,500 ft ( 2,900 m ) after an in-flight upset on 19 February 1985 . It also reached over 5g
China Airlines 747
China Airlines Flight 006
Sound barrier