Continental Airlines Inc was convicted of manslaughter for the deaths of 113 people in the Concorde crash 10 years ago outside Paris and ordered to pay ¤1.2 million ($1.6 million) in damages and fines.
Continental’s negligence caused the fireball that brought down the plane, ignited when the supersonic jet’s tire ran over a piece of metal debris from an earlier flight by the US air carrier, a court in Pontoise, France, said today. The airline must pay a ¤200,000 fine and ¤1 million to Air France-KLM Group, operator of the Concorde flight.
There was an “incontestable link” between the “negligence of Continental Airlines” and the “catastrophe of July 25, 2000,” Judge Dominique Andreassier said.
The verdict comes seven years after the Concorde’s last commercial take-off, the programme’s end hastened by the crash. Flights were grounded for 16 months after the disaster and the plane returned to service as air travel demand dropped off following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Traffic never recovered on the 1,350 mile-per-hour plan plane, favoured by celebrities including Princess Diana and former Beatle Paul McCartney.
Olivier Metzner, a lawyer for Continental, said the ruling was “political” and the airline would appeal. Continental called the verdict “absurd”.
“It is a political decision, a decision that comforts all the French actors,” said Metzner. “Once again, it is the French interests that are of concern.”
‘Tragic accident’
“To find that any crime was committed in this tragic accident is not supported either by the evidence at trial or by aviation authorities and experts around the world,” the company said in an e-mailed statement.
The airline, which has its main hub in Houston, merged in October with United Airlines to form United Continental Holdings Inc, the world’s largest carrier.
John Taylor, a Continental mechanic, was also found guilty and received a 15 month suspended sentence and a ¤2,000 fine.
Air France was awarded ¤1 million in damages, after seeking as much as ¤15 million. The company resolved claims by victims’ families soon after the accident.
The passengers on the July 2000, Air France Flight AF4590 were part of a German charter headed to New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport to join a cruise to Ecuador. The plane carried 100 passengers and nine crew members, according to court documents describing the investigation. Four people were killed in a hotel the plane crashed into.
