The Air France Flight 4590.Before the accident at Gonesse(France), the Concorde has never known of damage causing loss of life. No plane had had problems on strictly “internal” things linked to the plane.The inquiry that followed the accident involves the Achilles heel of the Concorde, the fragility of the tires. Dozens of cases of bursting of tires occurred since its commissioning, in many cases with perforations of a tank or a wing especially in Washington and Dakar in 1979.On 25 July 2000, the F-BTSC Air France Flight 4590, charter flights to New York, with passengers of German nationality, took off from Paris-Charles de Gaulle and then crashed two minutes after takeoff on a hotel in Gonesse, killing 113 people: one hundred passengers, nine crew and four people on the ground.The accident of 25th of July 2000 was due in particular to an external cause, a metal blade on the track left by the preceding aircraft: a DC-10 Continental Airlines. The bursting of a tire would have caused a fuel leak greater than during previous incidents, the ignition of fuel would have resulted in “pumping” (aerodynamic stall of the compressor blades) and massive loss of power on one engine ( The No. 2), then the other right next to (and # 1). The main cause chosen by the official story is that of “the metal blade on this track,” however, the detailed analysis of this accident by rigorous methods reveals that no fewer than fifteen different factors (root causes) have combined to cause this crash.The accident led to new changes on the Concorde. The electrical controls have been improved: anti-puncture Kevlar fuel tanks (13 in number on Concorde), tire mounting and more resilient, supplied by Michelin, which has developed a new technology tires Radial NZG (acronym for Near Zero Growth) which weighs 20 kg less than those previously used. However, the number of seats on board is reduced to ten, making the operation of the device even less profitable. Both routes are reopened Nov. 7, 2001.A new hypothesis is published by the magazine Special investigation on his show called Concorde – The crash of a myth, broadcast on 22 January 2010 at 22 h 35 on Canal +. This new hypothesis is supported by numerous testimonials (firefighters, pilots, airport staff …) who say that Concorde was already on fire half a mile before the track position of the coverslip implicated by the investigation of BEA . The documentary claims that the aircraft was overweight by about 1.5 tons and a spacer was missing for several days on which a landing gear tire blew. The break itself is due to a defect on the runway.The trial of this accident was opened February 2, 2010 at the courthouse of Pontoise. May 21, 2010, the prosecution requis28: the imposition of a fine of 175,000 euros for Continental Airlines which would result civil liability; eighteen months suspended prison sentence against his mechanic John Taylor and Stanley Ford, crew chief; two-year suspended sentence against Henri Perrier, 80, director of the Concorde program at Aerospatiale (now EADS) between 1978 and 1994. “He is the one who was aware of the risks, what to do. He could have prevented the accident, “said the prosecutor about it; the release of Hérubel Jacques, 74, chief engineer of the program from 1993 to 1995 and Claude Frantzen, 72, a senior leader of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) from 1966 to 1994.December 6, 2010 Justice gave its verdict and ordered Continental Airlines fined two hundred thousand euros and to pay one million euros compensation to Air France (five hundred thousand euros for “moral damage” and the same amount to “damage the image”). Continental Airlines, speaking through his lawyer, Olivier Metzner, decided to appeal this decision. The boilermaker John Taylor was sentenced to 15 months suspended sentence, her team leader, Stanley Ford, who was acquitted. The three other defendants (Henri Perrier, Jacques and Claude Hérubel Frentzenont) were released.December 16, 2010 Air France decided to appeal because of what was said after the verdict was announced by Continental Airlines (“absurd decision”, “French authorities’ determination to divert attention from the liability of Air France, which belonged the State at the time of the accident “). A new trial will be held that the Court of Appeal of Versailles in 2012 (expected in early March to mid April).
Removal from serviceApril 10, 2003 British Airways and Air France simultaneously announced the withdrawal of their Concorde for the following year. The reasons are the decline in passenger numbers since the accident at Gonesse July 25, 2000 and the high cost of maintenance.Meanwhile Sir Richard Branson offered the sum of one pound sterling for a unit to buy British Airways who have served in the Virgin Atlantic, but this offer is refused. He later wrote in The Economist (23 October 2003) was the final offer of five million pounds and he wanted to use the Concorde for many years. This offer was probably intended to advertise for Virgin Airbus has anyway refused to continue to supply spare parts for Concorde.
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