France Finds Continental Guilty in Crash of Concorde - New York Times

Continental was ordered to pay civil damages of more than $1.3 million to Air France and a fine of $265,000. The mechanic was fined $2,650 and given a suspended 15-month prison sentence; three other defendants involved in the plane’s design and certification were acquitted.

A 2002 report by French air accident investigators concluded that a small strip of metal that had fallen off a Continental DC-10 that took off minutes earlier had punctured a tire of the Concorde as it accelerated down the runway on July 25, 2000. The tire disintegrated in seconds, investigators said, sending shards of rubber into the fuel tanks and sending the plane crashing into a hotel near the airport, flames pouring from its undercarriage.

All 109 passengers and crew members were killed, along with 4 people on the ground.

The court faulted the mechanic, John Taylor, 42, for using titanium, rather than a softer metal like aluminum, to construct a replacement piece for the DC-10 called a "wear strip." It also accused him of improperly attaching the strip to the aircraft, resulting in it falling onto the runway. Continental said it would appeal the “absurd” ruling, which took more than a decade to work its way through the French courts. “To find that any crime was committed in this tragic accident is not supported either by the evidence at trial or by aviation authorities and experts around the world,” Nick Britton, a Continental spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement.

The decision to proceed with criminal charges in the Concorde case has alarmed airlines and aviation safety experts worldwide, who contend that the threat of prosecution can dissuade some witnesses from cooperating in crash investigations. France is one of a handful of countries that routinely seeks criminal indictments in transportation accidents, regardless of whether there is clear evidence of criminal intent or negligence.

"Verdicts like this tend to drive safety underground,” said William R.

Voss, President of the Flight Safety Foundation based in Alexandria, Virginia. "Accident investigations depend on information from professionals who can admit mistakes when they happen,” he said. The threat of criminal conviction "generates a climate where people are unlikely to do that,” he said.

At the trial, before Judge Dominique Andréassier in Pontoise, northwest of Paris, a lawyer for Continental, Olivier Metzner, argued that investigators had disregarded accounts of more than 20 witnesses that the plane appeared to have caught fire at a point on the runway several yards before it reached the metal strip.

The three defendants who were acquitted were Henri Perrier, 81, considered the “father” of the iconic supersonic jet and an executive of Aérospatiale, the company that built the Concorde; and Jacques Hérubel and Claude Frantzen, formerly of the French airline regulator that certified the plane’s airworthiness.

Air France itself was not accused of wrongdoing and joined the case as a civil party in the hope of recouping damages from Continental. The $1.3 million in damages awarded on Monday was far less than the nearly $20 million the French airline had sought. The airline reached a $150 million settlement in 2001 with the families of the victims, most of whom were German citizens. But Monday’s verdict could still open the door to millions of dollars in potential litigation by the victims’ families against Continental and against European Aeronautic Defense and Space, the parent company of Airbus, which absorbed Aérospatiale in the 1970s. Judge Andréassier said EADS would have to share 30 percent of any future civil damages resulting from the accident.

The crash of Air France Flight 4590 was the only fatal accident involving the Concorde, which first took to the skies in 1969. became an emblem of trans-Atlantic luxury travel. Flying at twice the speed of sound, its Paris-New York crossing was less than four hours and its London-New York time just three and a half.

The disaster helped bring an end to the commercial operations of the plane, which had become a financial burden for its two operators, Air France and British Airways. Both airlines took the plane out of service in 2003. Only 20 of the planes were built, and just 14 entered commercial service.

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High school students join France worker protests - Los Angeles Times

Riot police surround a woman during a student demonstration in Lyon. French oil workers defied the government's demand Monday to get back to work and end scattered fuel shortages, stepping up their fight against President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age to 62. (Laurent Cipriani, Associated Press / October 19, 2010)

Camille Maupas, a 14-year-old high school student, stood in the middle of a major intersection in the center of Paris, took a deep breath, smiled and sat down.

So did about 150 fellow students, who spontaneously decided to block the intersection at Rue de Rivoli and Rue du Renard, causing a traffic jam near City Hall on Monday, to protest against a government plan to raise the retirement age.

With no pension at stake, the students are a worrisome wild card in the eyes of the government, and a recent addition to an intensifying protest movement against President Nicolas Sarkozy's promise to help reduce the state deficit by forcing workers to legally retire at 62, instead of 60.

Students have blocked entrances to their schools with large objects, and on Monday some youths clashed with riot police and burned cars. The violence was blamed on youths who are not part of the student protest.

As authorities prepared for another national strike Tuesday, a larger swath of the population was already feeling the effect of nearly a week of continuous strikes by workers, especially in the energy sector, who were joined early Monday by truck drivers who blocked major roads around France, driving at a snail's pace in "escargot operations."

Despite government assurances, fears of gasoline shortages pushed drivers to fill up their tanks, causing more than 1,000 of France's 12,500 gas stations to temporarily run dry.

"The most serious concern is fuel," said Richard Laisne, 58, a Paris taxi driver. "Because if there's a fuel problem, there's no work for me." He said he filled up his tank Sunday.

Government leaders continue to assure the public that there was no reason to fear a shortage, and Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Sunday, "I won't let our country be blocked."

A spokesman for the Energy Ministry said trucks were on their way to restock gas stations that ran out of fuel.

Flight cancellations and delays are expected Tuesday as airport and public transport workers plan to strike. The government again advised airlines to reduce the number of flights they have planned to Paris and to arrive with their fuel tanks as full as possible, despite insisting there was no risk of fuel shortages at France's major airports.

With striking workers blocking roads, trains, gasoline depots and refineries, there could be a long delay before hard-hit gas stations are able to function normally.

A crisis unit was created Monday by the Interior Ministry, and key gasoline depots and pipelines have been unblocked by authorities, who said they did not use force. Days after certain depots were opened, others were blocked by new protesters Monday. Workers at all of France's 12 oil refineries are on strike too.

The Senate is expected to pass the retirement overhaul bill by Thursday or Friday, but protesters say they will continue striking.

"It's a political success. Everyone is involved," said Josiane Jousset, 62, of the strikes. "The government got a good slap in the face."

Media coverage of the student protests showed images of burned cars, shattered storefront windows and glass walls at bus stations in various towns across France, and were reminiscent of 2005 riots in the country's low-income suburbs.

In the center of Paris, participants said their intentions were peaceful.

"We are pacifists. We just want to be heard," said Hugo Behar, 16.

Though the Sarkozy government contends that the French need to work longer in order to finance future pensions, Hugo said the reform would mean fewer jobs for younger people, because aging employees wouldn't be able to leave their posts open for the next generation. "I don't want to be out of work at 30," he said.

"We aren't doing this to get out of class. … We hope to prevent the vote" in favor of pension overhaul, said Camille, the 14-year-old student.

Lauter is a special correspondent.

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