Calls Decision In The 12-Year-Old-Case 'Absurd'

Continental Airlines, which is now part of United Continental Holdings, says it will ask a French appeals court to overturn the manslaughter verdict finding the airline liable for the deaths of 113 people aboard the Concorde 12 years ago.

In an e-mailed statement, Continental calls the finding which blames the fire which consumed the Air France supersonic airliner on a small strip of metal which had fallen from a Continental airplane "absurd." Bloomberg News reports that Continental says it has new evidence it plans to present to the court in Versailles that will show the SST was already on fire before it allegedly hit the metal strip on the runway. Continental says it points to the "extreme fragility" of the airplane.

Air France is participating in the appeals process as well. The Concorde belonged to the French carrier before its merger with KLM. It says Continental is wrong to assert that the accident is Air France's responsibility.

Continental and EADS were both held "civilly liable" and fined, as was a Continental mechanic who allegedly used an inappropriate part which the court said ultimately cased the accident. The mechanic received a suspended sentence.

In another twist, Bloomberg reports that prosecutors also appealed the verdict, which cleared four French citizens, and they may now face manslaughter charges as well. One of them was a former French Civil Aviation Authority official who has challenged the constitutionality of the appeal. His lawyer says the court will have to address that issue "immediately."

FMI: http://ambafrance-us.org/IMG/pdf/Justice_ag.pdf