SALON

Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 2:30 PM UTC

French court overturns Concorde crash conviction

Continenal Airlines' manslaughter conviction was overturned VIDEO

By

Topics: Concorde, aol_on, aviation, Video, From the Wires, France, Airlines, ,

French court overturns Concorde crash convictionFILE - In this July 25, 2000, file photo, a firefighter sprays water on the debris of an Air France Concorde plane after it crashed into a hotel shortly after takeoff in Gonesse, France, outside of Paris. A French appeals court is expected to decide on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, whether to uphold a manslaughter conviction against Continental Airlines for the crash over a decade ago of an Air France Concorde that killed 113 people. Continental Airlines, Inc. and one of its mechanics were convicted in 2010.(AP Photo/Ministry of Interior/Civil Security, Joachim Bertrand, Pool, File) (Credit: AP)

VERSAILLES, France (AP) — A French appeals court overturns a manslaughter conviction against Continental Airlines for the July 2000 crash of an Air France Concorde that killed 113 people.

The crash led to the Concorde program, a synonym for luxury but a commercial failure despite its advanced technology, to be taken out of service in 2003. Air France and British Airways had jointly operated the program.

Thursday’s ruling follows a 2010 case where a French court had convicted Continental Airlines Inc. and one of its mechanics for the crash and imposed about €2 million ($2.7 million) in damages and fines on the carrier.

In the 2000 accident, the jet slammed into a hotel near Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport soon after taking off, killing all 109 people aboard and four on the ground.

More Associated Press.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 2 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations