French Court Drops Investigation Into Two Aviation Officials in Concorde Probe

May 5, 2006
The two former officials had been placed under investigation - one step short of formal charges - for manslaughter and involuntary injury in October.

An appeals court dropped its investigations of two former officials of France's civil aviation authority as part of a probe into the 2000 crash of a Concorde jet outside Paris that killed 113 people, judicial officials said Friday.

The two former officials had been placed under investigation - one step short of formal charges - for manslaughter and involuntary injury in October.

Investigations will continue into two former engineers from Aerospatiale, the company that built the supersonic jet and is now part of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.

The Air France Concorde crashed shortly after takeoff from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport on July 25, 2000, killing all 109 people on board - mostly German tourists - and four on the ground.

Two French investigations concluded that a titanium strip left on the runway by a Continental Airlines DC-10 was to blame for the July 25, 2000, crash. The U.S. carrier is also under investigation.

The metal strip had caused a Concorde tire to burst, which sent debris flying that punctured the jet's fuel tanks.

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