|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Editions | myCNN | Video | Audio | Headline News Brief | Feedback | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Concorde will fly again, says French ministerPARIS (CNN) -- French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot has said he is convinced that Concorde flights will resume -- despite the supersonic jet being grounded following the disaster near Paris two months ago. The minister insisted: "The Concorde is not finished. If you want my profound conviction -- it will fly again." British and French authorities have revoked the airworthiness certificate for the supersonic jet pending completion of the investigation into the crash which killed 118 people on July 25. Gayssot told Europe 1 radio that British and French experts are to meet in Paris on Thursday to examine safety measures that could be taken to avoid a repeat of the disaster. He said: "That group of experts will ask the constructors to make proposals so the chain of events that led to the catastrophe cannot be repeated." French investigators believe a 17-inch strip of metal lying on the runway punctured a tyre on the Concorde, sparking a chain of events that led to the disaster. Investigators inspect US jetRubber chunks from the tyre pierced fuel tanks, setting off the fatal fire which brought the plane down, killing all 109 passengers and crew aboard and four on the ground. Investigators this week flew to Houston, Texas, to inspect a Continental Airlines jet that took off shortly before the doomed Concorde on the same runway at Charles de Gaulle Airport. They determined that a piece of metal wear strip was missing from the space between the fan reverser and the core door on the right-wing engine of the Continental DC-10. A piece of metal French investigators said was "very similar" to the strip missing from the Continental jet was found on the runway. Air France and British Airways are the only operators of the supersonic craft. There are now only twelve Concordes worldwide -- seven with British Airways and five at Air France. The French carrier said on Monday it did not see the Concorde coming back into service until April 2001 at the earliest. Investigations into the cause of the Concorde crash are likely to take more than a year to be completed. Reuters contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES: Concorde inquiry examines DC10 link RELATED SITES: British Airways - Flights - Aircraft/Fleet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Back to the top |
© 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. |