Concorde crash trial

[Dont call me Shirley]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...aris-crash.html

The four-month trial in Cergy-Pontoise will examine at least three theories as to why the Air France Concorde went down near Charles de Gaulle airport on 25 July 2000, killing 113 people.
French prosecutors will argue, as investigators have done, that an 18-inch scrap of metal on the runway was to blame. A Continental Airlines DC-10 shed the titanium "wear strip" on the runway four minutes before takeoff, gashing the Concorde's tyre and showering pieces of rubber into the fuel tanks, which caused a fire, they will say.

Seems like a stretch to me. Sure the piece of metal from the DC-10 may have caused the to fail, but the danger of tire debris causing wing damage on the Concorde was known long before he crash. That the prior cases were just incidents was good luck. The problem should have been fixed.

 

[Bob Owens]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...aris-crash.html

The four-month trial in Cergy-Pontoise will examine at least three theories as to why the Air France Concorde went down near Charles de Gaulle airport on 25 July 2000, killing 113 people.
French prosecutors will argue, as investigators have done, that an 18-inch scrap of metal on the runway was to blame. A Continental Airlines DC-10 shed the titanium "wear strip" on the runway four minutes before takeoff, gashing the Concorde's tyre and showering pieces of rubber into the fuel tanks, which caused a fire, they will say.

Seems like a stretch to me. Sure the piece of metal from the DC-10 may have caused the to fail, but the danger of tire debris causing wing damage on the Concorde was known long before he crash. That the prior cases were just incidents was good luck. The problem should have been fixed.

Agreed, besides even if the metal did cause the damage the metal was just laying there. The plane rolled into it. Its not that unusual for bits and pieces of aircraft to fall onto the runway, if FOD was such a risk for the Concorde then the runway should have been checked prior to take off.