Five individuals and Continental Airlines have appeared on manslaughter charges as the trial relating to the crash of an Air France Concorde began on Tuesday this week. The trial is taking place almost 10 years after the crash in July 2000.
A wing and an engine of the plane caught fire as it took off from Charles De Gaulle airport. The plane was travelling at such speed along the runway that it had no choice but to take off in flames, only to crash some two minutes later in the nearby town of Gonesse. The plane crashed into a hotel, killing all 109 people onboard along with four people on the ground.
In December 2004, a French inquiry into the crash concluded that a piece of metal had fallen from a DC-10 plane run by Continental Airlines that had taken off shortly before the Concorde. It is reported that the Concorde then hit the metal strip, bursting one of its tyres. This blow-out caused rubber and debris to fly up and rupture a fuel tank, which then burst into flames.
In March 2008, a French public prosecutor requested judges to bring to manslaughter charges against Continental Airlines. Continental has denied responsibility for the crash, claiming that the metal strip did not cause the crash but that the crash happened because of issues with the Concorde. Air France deny any issues with the aircraft, and do not face criminal prosecution.
Five individuals also face charges – two American employees of Continental, and three former French officials. The Continental employees being prosecuted are the former chief of maintenance and the welder who fitted the metal strip to the DC-10. Also facing charges are Concorde's former chief engineer and former head of the Concorde division at Aerospatiale (now part of EADS), who are accused of ignoring warning signs from a number of incidents on Concorde planes. It is interesting to note that the individuals will face prosecution, even though Air France will not. Significantly, the director of technical services at the French civil aviation authority DGAC will also face prosecution. He is accused of overlooking a fault on the Concorde's wings which held the fuel tanks. All individuals deny the charges.
Successful prosecution would result in Continental being fined a maximum of 375,000 euros, whilst the individuals face prison sentences of up to five years as well as fines of up to 75,000 euros. Although the defendants face financial penalties, arguably the greatest impact will be the reputational damage associated with any conviction.
Cases involving prosecution of airline companies are historically quite rare, as arguably such cases can discourage the industry from sharing important safety information which could be used against a company in litigation.
The trial is expected to run for around four months and will include a large number of witnesses and expert evidence.
This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq
Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
The original publication date for this article was 04/02/2010.
