acaTerry
SAPM
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2001
- Posts
- 2,393
Just unbelievable. Build a plane that can be destroyed by a flat tire, and then look for someone else to blame.
PARIS - A French judge ordered Continental Airlines and five people to stand trial for manslaughter in connection with the 2000 crash of a Concorde jet that killed 113 people, a prosecutor said Thursday.
French investigators say the crash was caused in part by a titanium strip from a Continental Airlines DC-10 that was lying on the runway when the supersonic jet took off. The judge's order outlines eight years of painstaking efforts to try to pin down who exactly could be tried in court.
Two of the individuals to stand trial are employees of the U.S. carrier, said a statement from the office of Marie-Therese de Givry, prosecutor in the Paris suburb of Pontoise.
Two others were employed by Aerospatiale, the maker of Concorde and the precursor of plane-maker Airbus. The fifth is an employee of the French civilian aviation authority.
The Air France Concorde crashed shortly after takeoff from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport in July 2000, killing all 109 people on board — mostly German tourists — and four on the ground when it slammed into a hotel.
French investigators have said a metal strip from the Continental airplane caused one of the Concorde's tires to burst. Debris from the force of the explosion punctured the jet's fuel tanks. The French judicial inquiry also determined the tanks lacked sufficient protection from shock — and that Concorde's makers had been aware of the problem since 1979.
The tragedy forced modifications to the aircraft before it was taken out of service in 2003.
The flight, which was headed to New York, was the only fatal crash for the Concorde.
PARIS - A French judge ordered Continental Airlines and five people to stand trial for manslaughter in connection with the 2000 crash of a Concorde jet that killed 113 people, a prosecutor said Thursday.
French investigators say the crash was caused in part by a titanium strip from a Continental Airlines DC-10 that was lying on the runway when the supersonic jet took off. The judge's order outlines eight years of painstaking efforts to try to pin down who exactly could be tried in court.
Two of the individuals to stand trial are employees of the U.S. carrier, said a statement from the office of Marie-Therese de Givry, prosecutor in the Paris suburb of Pontoise.
Two others were employed by Aerospatiale, the maker of Concorde and the precursor of plane-maker Airbus. The fifth is an employee of the French civilian aviation authority.
The Air France Concorde crashed shortly after takeoff from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport in July 2000, killing all 109 people on board — mostly German tourists — and four on the ground when it slammed into a hotel.
French investigators have said a metal strip from the Continental airplane caused one of the Concorde's tires to burst. Debris from the force of the explosion punctured the jet's fuel tanks. The French judicial inquiry also determined the tanks lacked sufficient protection from shock — and that Concorde's makers had been aware of the problem since 1979.
The tragedy forced modifications to the aircraft before it was taken out of service in 2003.
The flight, which was headed to New York, was the only fatal crash for the Concorde.
