Continental Faces Manslaughter Charges

Airline, mechanic fined for manslaughter

(AP) - A French court found Continental Airlines and one of its mechanics guilty of manslaughter today in the crash of a supersonic Concorde jet outside Paris a decade ago that killed 113 people. The court ruled the Houston-based airline must pay a $265,000 fine; the mechanic, John Taylor, must pay $2,650. Taylor was also handed a 15-month suspended prison sentence. More»

(USER SUBMITTED) - It's been 10 years since an Air France Concorde, once the pride of passenger aviation, took off from a Paris airport in flames before crashing into a nearby hotel. Investigations in the years that followed found that the accident was caused by a piece of titanium that had fallen off a Continental Airlines DC-10. Now Continental and two former employees will finally answer charges of involuntary manslaughter in a trial that starts tomorrow near Paris. More»

Continental, others could be charged over 2000 accident that killed 113

(NEWSER) - A public prosecutor in France is calling for Continental Airlines to face manslaughter charges over the 2000 crash of an Air France Concorde that killed 113 people, Reuters reports. The supersonic jet crashed minutes after takeoff when a burst tire sent debris into an engine. A French investigation found that the tire was shredded by a piece of metal left on the runway by a Continental aircraft. More»

Verdict of trial expected in December

(NEWSER) - Some 100 family members, witnesses, and Air France officials today marked 10 years since a Concorde jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Charles de Gaulle Airport, plowing into a hotel. Air France flew in family members from Germany, where most of the victims were from, and gave them flowers to place at a monument in Gonesse, made of transparent glass with a piece of an airplane wing jutting through it. Families lay flowers in silence, reports the AP, though officials spoke briefly at the ceremony. More»

(NEWSER) - Three families of victims in the Air France crash have signed on as plaintiffs in a manslaughter probe into the Air France crash, reports the BBC. Under French law, they'll now have access to investigative files. The Paris prosecutor launched the probe last week, which is routine in such cases. The families are suspicious that company officials knew of air-speed sensor problems before the plane took off. "Why weren't the planes kept on the ground?" asked the lawyer for one of the families. More»