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| Concorde Flight 4590: Final Moments Before Crash |
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The Concorde, loaded with fuel for the
trans-Atlantic flight, went down shortly
after takeoff, crashing near the town of
Gonesse, about 10 miles north of Paris, at
4:44 p.m. local time.
All 109 people on board were killed. Three
children were among the passengers. Four
people in a local hotel on died, with a dozen
people on the ground injured.
A French judge ordered Continental Airlines
and five people to stand trial for
manslaughter in connection with the horrific
crash of a Concorde jet that killed 113
people eight years ago in France, a
prosecutor said July 2008.
Two of the people to be tried are employees
of Continental, the prosecutor in the Paris
suburb of Pontoise said in a statement.
Two others were employed by Aerospatiale, the
maker of Concorde and the precursor of
plane-maker Airbus. The fifth is an employee
of the French civilian aviation authority.
The No2 main gear wheel tyre is missing after
the explosive burst and that un-burnt fuel is
flowing from the ruptured tank. A few feet
from the tank around the engine area the fuel
appears to be being ignited from the fuel
that is already burning. The initial cause of
the ignition is believed to be from sparks
derived from shorted wiring in the landing
gear bay area.
French investigators blamed a titanium strip
on the runway from a Continental Airlines
DC-10, which took off just before the luxury
jet.
John Taylor, a mechanic who allegedly fitted
the non-standard strip is to stand trial for
manslaughter. The titanium strip caused one
of the Concorde's tires to burst, which sent
debris flying into its fuel tanks.
Continental's chief of maintenance Stanley
Ford will also stand trial for manslaughter.
The French judicial inquiry also determined
the tanks lacked sufficient protection from
shock and that Concorde's makers had been
aware of the problem since 1979.
Former Concorde officials Henri Perrier, 79,
and Jacques Herubel, 73, are accused of
knowing about problems with the jets and
failing to detect and fix them. Claude
Frantzen, 71, director of technical services
at the civil aviation authority DGAC from
1970 to 1994, was also ordered to stand
trial.
A special thanks to Youtube channel tgj1992
for this detailed description of events On 25
July 2000.
Previous to Concorde taking off that fateful
day was a continental dc-10 headed for
Washington. It was a metal strip from inside
one of its engines that was to trigger the
catastrophically unfortunate series of
events. As Concorde was reaching take off
speed it hit this metal strip puncturing the
tyre of wheel number two on the port landing
assembly. Pieces of rubber then began to
ricochet of the undercarriage, soon piercing
fuel tank cover 5. A major leak ensues and it
is concluded that the kerosene is ignited due
to the extreme heat experienced around the
wheel assembly. Engines one and two are
severely affected by the hot gases emanating
from the burning kerosene which are
continually being ingested, and they rapidly
lose power. The plane is enveloped in flames
and sufficient control is lost. The plane
crashes and All 109 people on board are
killed. Once a conclusion has been reached as
to the cause of the incident, appropriate
modifications are added such as stronger
tyre's which are able to withstand piercing
objects at take off speed and in the unlikely
occurrence that one does get punctured kevlar
sheilds are added to the lining of the fuel
tank covers.
And also, thanks to Batteryjoe for his
letter:
"...there are many more factors which
contributed to this right of passage in
aviation development. For starters, President
Chirac's 747 crossed Concorde's path
necessitating a premature rotation and
consequent deleterious effects on Concorde's
ability to remain airworthy. Engine two was
shut down by accident, the ship was 6 tonnes
overweight, and the spacer for one of the
main landing gear was found in the shop after
the accident.
Tags : Concorde air disaster Air France footage paris |
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Affichage : 2238898
Durée : 114 s |
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