On July 25 , 2000 , as Chirac and the first lady were returning from the G7 Summit in Okinawa , Japan , they were nearly killed by Air France Flight 4590 after they landed at Charles de Gaulle International Airport . The first couple were in an Air France Boeing 747 taxiing toward the terminal when the jet had to stop and wait for Flight 4590 to take off . The departing plane , an Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde , ran over a strip of metal on takeoff that punctured its left fuel tank and sliced electrical wires near the left landing gear . The sequence of events ignited a massive fire and caused the Concorde to veer left on its takeoff roll . As it reached takeoff speed and lifted off the ground , it came within 30 feet of hitting Chirac 's 747 . The now famous photograph of Flight 4590 ablaze , the only picture taken of the Concorde on fire , was snapped by passenger Toshihiko Sato on Chirac 's jetliner
G7 Summit
26th G8 summit
Jacques Chirac