Concorde Crash Verdict Heavy On Continental Airlines

December 7th, 2010 - 7:51 pm ICT by GD  

By Ranjan Bhaduri
concorde_zoomDec 7, (THAINDIAN NEWS) In a recent development Continental Airlines and one of its mechanic have been declared guilty of having part in involuntary manslaughter in a Concorde crash that took place over 10 years in the capital of France. The infamous crash resulted in the demise of 113 people and it created sensation in the aviation industry at that time. The judges ruled that the airline will have to pay a fine of 170,000. apart from that it will also have to pay a compensation of 850,000 to Air France. It may also have to churn out millions because the judges think it was “criminally responsible” for the disaster.

An employee of Continental Airlines named John Taylor, was fined 1,700 and he was slapped with a suspended sentence of 15 months for involuntary manslaughter. The ruling said that a metal strip fallen from a Continental DC10 airplane caused the tragedy. That metal strip punctured the tyre of Concorde that was taking off from the airport. The debris had hit the fuel tank and that caused the plane to crash barely minutes after takeoff. It took place at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. Air France had to pay millions in compensation and it sued Continental Airlines accusing it of poor maintenance which caused the tragedy.

However, Continental Airlines has said that it will appeal against this verdict since it thinks the verdict “only protects French interests”. The trial was aimed at finding the party responsible for the crash since the relatives of the accident victims got compensation by both the airlines. The accident led to the closure of the Concorde flight.

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