Concorde Crash Blamed on Continental Airlines

A ten-year long saga ended this week in France, where a local court made its decision and announced who is to blame for the 2000 airplane crash which brought down not only the involved Concorde aircraft, but also the dream of passenger supersonic flight.

Although the details of the crash and what caused it are pretty much known, the court decided that those truly responsible for the accident which killed 113 people are Continental Airlines and John Taylor, a company mechanic.

The airline received a EUR202,000 fine ($268,400), while the mechanic was slapped with a EUR2,000 ($2,656) fine and 15-month suspended prison sentence. The other people involved in the trial, Taylor' supervisor and other three French officials were found not guilty on involuntary manslaughter.

As a reminder, on July 25, 2000, Air France Flight 4590 went down ablaze in Gonesse, France. Presumably, some type of debris on the runway severed one of the plane's fuel tanks, sending the liquid gushing out. The fire that ensued brought down more and more systems, eventually sending the aircraft fireball crashing right into the Les Relais Bleus Hotel.

The Concorde might be brought back to life in 2012, when a partnership between British Save Concorde Group (SCG) and French group Olympus 593 plan to use it as a means to provide heritage flights.

Plans about the Concorde officially do not extend after the London Olympics, but if the project proves a success (and taking into account what is known now about the 2000 crash), perhaps supersonic will be listed once again on airports' boards.