Judge orders airline to stand trial for Concorde crash

A French judge has 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.

The prosecutor in the Paris suburb of Pontoise says two of the people to be tried are employees of the US carrier.

Two others were employed by Aerospatiale, the maker of the Concorde. The fifth is with the French civilian aviation authority.

The prosecutor announced the order in a statement today.

The Air France Concorde crashed after take-off from Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport in July 2000. The crash killed all 109 people on board and four on the ground.

French investigators blamed a titanium strip left on the runway by a Continental Airlines DC-10.