Airline, mechanic guilty in Concorde case

PARIS, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- A French judge said Continental Airlines and a mechanic are guilty of involuntary homicide for their roles in the crash of a Concorde that killed 113 people.

Monday, Judge Dominique Andreassier ordered the American company to pay a fine of $265,000, fined mechanic John Taylor $2,650, and gave him a suspended 15-month prison sentence, The New York Times reported.

The judge also awarded Air France $1.3 million in damages.

French accident investigators said in 2002 the Air France Concorde crashed shortly after takeoff on July 25, 2000, because a small strip that fell off a Continental DC-10 minutes before the accident punctured a tire on the Concorde. The report said pieces of the tire punctured the Concorde's fuel tanks, causing a fire and crash that killed all 109 passengers and crew, and 4 people on the ground.

Continental's lawyer said the report ignored accounts of more than 20 witnesses that said the Concorde appeared to have caught fire on the runway several yards before it reached the metal strip.

The crash was the Concorde's only fatal accident. It first took to the skies in 1969, but the plane proved to be a financial burden and was taken out of service by Air France and British Airways in 2003.

Frances' decision to proceed with criminal charges in the case alarmed airlines and aviation safety experts, who fear the threat of prosecution might prevent some witnesses from cooperating in crash investigations, the newspaper said.