Five on trial for Concorde crash

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 yesterday.

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 could be tried in court.

Two of the individuals to stand trial are employees of the US carrier.

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 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 tyres 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.

“These indictments are outrageous and completely unjustified,” said Julie King, a spokeswoman for Houston-based Continental Airlines Inc.

“Continental remains firmly convinced neither it nor its employees were the cause of the Concorde tragedy, and we will defend ourselves vigorously against these charges,” she said.