Trial over Concorde disaster to begin
Flight 4590 crashed in July 2000 killing 113 people
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Tuesday, 02, Feb 2010 09:02
By Richard James.
Five men and a US airline are due to go on trial later over the crash of an Air France Concorde which killed 113 people almost ten years ago.
In July 2000 flight 4590 crashed into the French town of Gonesse after catching fire during take-off.
An official report into the accident claimed the Concorde hit a metal strip that fell off a Continental plane.
The US airline's legal team argue, however, that the iconic supersonic jet caught fire before hitting the titanium strip.
Following the crash the entire Concorde fleet was grounded as an official inquiry was conducted. The investigation eventually concluded that one of the plane's tyres had burst, firing debris up into a fuel tank, rupturing it and causing leaking kerosene to ignite.
The Concorde fleet did not take to the skies again until the end of 2001, before being retired in 2003.
Three years later a judicial investigation declared a piece of metal left on the runway at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris had caused the disastrous puncture. Investigators suggested the incriminating metal strip had fallen from a Continental Airlines plane.
As a result it was recommended manslaughter charges should be brought over the air crash.
Prosecutors are also set to argue in the trial three French aviation officials had known for years that Concorde possessed flaws but had not taken appropriate action.
Two Continental employees are also facing prosecution over the titanium strip that allegedly fell from the DC10 aircraft on July 25th 2000.
The group could face up to five years in prison if found guilty of involuntary homicide.
The trial is expected to continue until May.