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Concorde crash: Continental Airlines cleared by France court

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Concorde crash: Continental Airlines cleared by France court

Old 29th Nov 2012, 13:39
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Concorde crash: Continental Airlines cleared by France court

BBC News - Concorde crash: Continental Airlines cleared by France court
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 14:12
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Cleared of criminal charges, but still has to pay AFR 1m euro civil damages.
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 14:14
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So - who was to blame? Not many choices left, are there?
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 14:24
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Amazing! A French court puts right a wrong by an earlier French court, and points the blame back where it should have been in the first place.

Runway pointing the wrong way was certainly a factor (or wind blowing the wrong way if you like - same thing )

Last edited by Shaggy Sheep Driver; 29th Nov 2012 at 14:24.
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 14:31
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Please don't blame the runway: he was new to the job, and hadn't been given proper training on which way to point.
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 14:35
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Only goes to show that once the legal profession gets involved in something technical and complex like aviation, the court outcome is a complete lottery depending on who is adjudicating. The verdicts go backwards and forwards like a yo-yo. The only constant is the legal profession collecting huge fees on all sides at each and every stage. I'm sure that, compared to their lawyers' bill, the EUR 1m damages Continental had to pay were chicken feed.
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 14:50
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There's a strong excuse there, for the AF.

"Aviation is complex, it's not our fault...."
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 14:55
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Taking off the wrong way.
Overweight plane, full of German tourists with lots of luggage.
Too much fuel on board..
Dodgy bearing on one wheel set.
President Chirac in the way.
Shut down the flaming engine.
Titanium strip of metal on runway.
Longest runway under repair.
Air France.

Have I forgotten anything?
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 15:15
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Surely the damages etc had not been paid if there was an appeal?
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 15:43
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So - who was to blame? Not many choices left, are there?
As you are aware, gallant and wise one, the term 'nibbled to death by ducks' is appropriate.
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 15:56
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Would that not be 'canards', Sir? (or 'a canard'?)
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 15:58
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The last hole in the cheese was advancing throttles. At that point, there was no cheese left.
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 16:15
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The last hole in the cheese was advancing throttles. At that point, there was no cheese left.
What about the un-commanded engine 2 shut-down by the FE?
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 17:06
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Anyone here understand the French legal process and what happens now?
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 17:10
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Anyone here understand the French legal process
Is that the same legal process which ignored 15 witnesses, all aviation professionals, who claimed in the forst trial that the Concorde was on fire before it reached the metal part on the runway?
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 17:11
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Who were they?
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 17:21
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I see the BBC report has been updated (1531) and now says

"But the court said Continental still bore civil responsibility and upheld the 1m-euro payment

Separately, Air France is suing Continental for 15m euros at a commercial tribunal.

The US airline had consistently argued that the Concorde caught fire before it hit the metal strip, and that they were being used as a scapegoat to protect France's airline industry."


Bizarre!
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 19:04
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Witnessess? - merde!

I believe that three of them were firemen in a fire engine and they were the closest witnesses.

As far as I can recall, they claim that the tyre let go before striking the titanium stip.

I stand to be corrected, of course.
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 21:47
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There was a spacer missing from the left gear asembly


However, the Observer, citing John Hutchinson, a British Concorde pilot for 15 years, said the lack of a component called "spacer" in the undercarriage was a contributing factor.



When Air France mechanics had taken the undercarriage apart for a service, they reassembled it without the part, which keeps the wheels in the correct alignment. The missing spacer was found on the original part in the workshop

Without the spacer, the aircraft veered on takeoff "like a supermarket trolley with a jammed wheel," claimed the Observer. It was this, not the loss of power, which sent the jet heading to the edge of the runway, and neary into collision with an Air France 747, the same one that the picture of Concorde trailing flames on the runway was taken from.

The firemen claimed that it was the friction caused by the jammed wheel assembly that caused the tyre to burst and not the metal strip and that this caused the airacraft to veer towards the edge of the runway where the metal strip had fallen off.

If the spacer had been fitted then the Concorde would have stayed straight down the centre line and been nowhere near the metal strip.


CONCORDE SST : LATEST NEWS
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Old 29th Nov 2012, 22:14
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Except the gash in the tyre was a match for the metal strip found on the runway.
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