As a postscript, the Cosford Comet spent a grand total of 4 months in revenue service for Air France, from September 1953 to January 1954.
Following the first Comet crashes, it was WFU and returned to Hatfield in February 1954 for mods. It was due to return to AF in April 1954, but that was pre-empted by the loss of modified G-ALYY, after which the Comet CofA was withdrawn and Air France lost interest in the type.
Comprehensive history of the Cosford airframe at
http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/document...-1XB-XM823.pdf