Concorde Trial Heats Up

UK NEWS
'CONCORDE HAD FAULTS WITH ITS WHEELS FOR 20 YEARS BEFORE 113 DIED IN PARIS
CRASH'
Doomed Air France Concorde takes off with fire trailing from its engine
Wednesday February 3,2010
By Peter Allen

CONCORDE had problems with its wheels for 20 years before the fatal Paris
disaster, it has been claimed.

Continental Airlines and five individuals went on trial *yesterday for
manslaughter over the crash of an Air France Concorde on July 25, 2000. The
jet took off in flames from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and crashed
shortly afterwards .It struck a hotel in the *suburb of Gonesse and exploded
in a fireball, killing 100 passengers and nine crew and four people on the
ground.

The names of the victims were read out in open court yesterday as a judge
pledged to establish who was responsible.

An official report by French investigators said the crash was partly caused
by a metal strip from a Continental *Airlines DC-10 jet that had taken off
earlier and was lying on the runway. It claimed the titanium strip punctured
one of Concorde's tyres, and sent debris flying up into the jet's fuel
tanks.

But speaking before yesterday's trial Continental's *Houston-based lawyer,
Olivier Metzner, said that burn marks on the runway showed that the tyre
explosion did not cause the crash. He added: "It's clear that the Concorde
caught fire before meeting it, so it wasn't due to the wear strip. "Since
1980, we have known that the Concorde has *problems with its wheels. It was
the fault of Air France maintenance."

Two Continental employees, a former French civil aviation official and two
Concorde *engineers are charged with unlawful killing. The US airline is
charged with failure to properly maintain its aircraft.

On Feb 3, 4:02*pm, "Sancho Panza" wrote:
UK NEWS
'CONCORDE HAD FAULTS WITH ITS WHEELS FOR 20 YEARS BEFORE 113 DIED IN PARIS
CRASH'
Doomed Air France Concorde takes off with fire trailing from its engine
Wednesday February 3,2010
By Peter Allen

CONCORDE had problems with its wheels for 20 years before the fatal Paris
disaster, it has been claimed.

Continental Airlines and five individuals went on trial *yesterday for
manslaughter over the crash of an Air France Concorde on July 25, 2000. The
jet took off in flames from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and crashed
shortly afterwards .It struck a hotel in the *suburb of Gonesse and exploded
in a fireball, killing 100 passengers and nine crew and four people on the
ground.

The names of the victims were read out in open court yesterday as a judge
pledged to establish who was responsible.

An official report by French investigators said the crash was partly caused
by a metal strip from a Continental *Airlines DC-10 jet that had taken off
earlier and was lying on the runway. It claimed the titanium strip punctured
one of Concorde's tyres, and sent debris flying up into the jet's fuel
tanks.

But speaking before yesterday's trial Continental's *Houston-based lawyer,
Olivier Metzner, said that burn marks on the runway showed that the tyre
explosion did not cause the crash. He added: "It's clear that the Concorde
caught fire before meeting it, so it wasn't due to the wear strip. "Since
1980, we have known that the Concorde has *problems with its wheels. It was
the fault of Air France maintenance."

Two Continental employees, a former French civil aviation official and two
Concorde *engineers are charged with unlawful killing. The US airline is
charged with failure to properly maintain its aircraft.

ouais c'est chaud...