This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0030_01C5C349.67524140 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit French Authorities Open Concorde Crash Manslaughter Case <http://money.excite.com/img/dji.gif> Tuesday September 27, 5:09 AM EDT PARIS (AP)--French authorities have opened a manslaughter case against the former head of the Concorde program in connection with a deadly crash of the supersonic jet, judicial officials said Tuesday. Henri Perrier, chief engineer on the plane's first test flight in 1969, was placed under investigation - a step short of formal charges - late Monday for manslaughter and involuntary injury as part of an investigation of the 2000 crash at near a Paris airport that killed 113 people. (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires 09-27-05 0509ET Perrier, head of the Concorde program in the 1980s and early 1990s, is the first person targeted in legal action over the crash. He was questioned by officials for nearly 12 hours on Monday and into early Tuesday. He is the first of four former executives of Aerospatiale - a French plane maker now part of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. (5730.FR) - summoned by investigating judge Christophe Regnard in the case. Two others are to be heard later this week. Three officials from France's civil aviation agency, DGAC, have also been called. An Air France Concorde burst into flames just after takeoff from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport on July 25, 2000, killing 109 people on board - mostly German tourists - and four people on the ground. Two investigations - one by France's accident office, the other ordered by the prosecutors' office - concluded that a titanium "wear strip" that fell from a Continental Airlines Inc. (CAL <http://money.excite.com/jsp/qt/full.jsp?symbol_search_text=CAL> ) (CAL) DC-10 onto the runway had caused a Concorde tire to burst, propelling rubber debris that perforated the supersonic plane's fuel tanks. Continental was placed under investigation in March for alleged manslaughter and involuntary injury. French prosecutors contend that the carrier had violated U.S. Federal Aviation Administration rules by using titanium in a part of the plane that normally called for use of aluminum, which is softer. However, the judicial inquiry, made public last year, also determined that the jet's fuel tanks lacked sufficient protection from shock - a risk known since 1979. According to that report, in the 60 cases of ruptured tires recorded since the Concorde entered service, seven led to a punctured tank. The needed reinforcement of the tanks only took place after the plane restarted service in November 2001, the report said. The supersonic planes were flown commercially by Air France and British Airways, and were finally retired in 2003 amid ballooning costs and dwindling ticket sales. (END) Dow Jones Newswires 09-27-05 0553ET ------=_NextPart_000_0030_01C5C349.67524140 Content-Type: image/gif; name="dji.gif" Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Location: http://money.excite.com/img/dji.gif R0lGODlhiAAnAPQAAP///yMfIMjHx1pXWJGPj0xJSqyrq3ZzdNbV1Z6dnePj4zEtLvHx8T87PGhl Zrq5uYSBggAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACwAAAAA iAAnAAAF/yAAFEFZDgQjroJjLoc6mCJiDiJhQmYitqZATPQwOVaLEkEQDOYaQQdiRa1ar9istfma injcAmNWEh1uImhgcC4JADpuQxUvKQAK0yPBDTQAZE0LXlqFhoVMfWtfigEEbQEADEknAEVuJGV8 igeAQQSWJgqQBQOmEAZBaiVHh66vK6klBUAmCIklPi4lDXUAspW7fyYNeSadYAELAKvKcCXLmQEq K7sBEJJosNuGyaCTetY4ALiOJgLNC8YBBrgOpD9BDFwGZDgvAvlvgQsQDw/5CHEbaCXQAxGBNpUw EM9EnTo9oP1ySIldQzdcBqiBUM6JwhegCIrcIkpERYh3AP8oXABMTUU1oJJ99ALMXAlIJgzU1IbT 4cifAGxIJBekZjUjHdlxuWPQiZkbwtbZSnaAgNWDP6wNBUoQGA4G0hqUEyG1XZMDHTsBIFZOhYKK BtQcCVQmUMqgpgYwfEaDK8E6BxI0eyCVwANpBYgGUdBxitA1844JCLtWSSgTiT9ZJQBsAcA6y/wO pHsWoaJBeILgKDcOGKieXXBhXaVX0UcuIUVvqxhkQe63cggFeVNuL6SDYPskIGCNd6Pnqq8KuKtb S968BwxQW8EAQqYBCbYDMtVq/AAHAh7JIyJNUQNTVhPoo26Icb7lBEwteE9AfvX/h7TnxwHNYOYA Z9MBeMX/LQRAMEABDiQgkIL/SdUHCgZMSOEhDAiw14a6IZAAaQNmCOKJKBrywAHONZAdfSnGGOOK zhUgoYw44qgABDUmAGMWEBzR3RE3/jDAG9ww4AJWOfpVTxMN+MhNAWoVgA1LKxTxoyFVISBekwQp QABvMGhYBQMEiGnJAwgw1IsPLImIBwFtDuIDAwmEZwBhBuQWFJ0CLFAemGH2FOWXWMwABR8OODgP FEw8sMAy7yUAQQMkAOLAAgUsimlKDzTgwABFfEjoNqM0UYCphqTCxGQ8LhFAEXwAcMBcC4wxgINM oJUKAjZgI0IBVh0Zyamo9nQkNwQUIOk8JKBArLSTOdAn/y2zPuiCAg80C4eDKzgCnrfIwnKLPvkQ 5ICLCCggxQDANsqAAQ4wcIA/uwLibprnIQCBLqSukB9Dt5bbZJQzgsWkwSnmd8CW/z3oJ8MUV2zx xRhzcy6603GsjwgdosvALT+QlQ81AZ0pX7sep0wOuvblE/PJP6T7S3gvE4euFzYLwHMNNG+zawEQ El2AAnzkGYClxyoZwGRiHFClWwGI8dSEEerQ7AxJi5tY0jzkkR2xMFyzAJJ8IBPh10sDECQf+SU2 wz4hJRaUEIh2M56uqz39KgDl8YGAC3CkNKsIi+RwLBXH9oKADra+WkQ+T4+wFijdyvd0O/GkWTk7 f+uz+f/TOnSyxN2GT+zKQab80vqrr55ew9I6DB6PsIk/s4UPnOlulod+k36QIx6y+SqwnafCFHqV i54e6VCI+UYqezkiUuuA0MIH5QmoFe6t7KhFAKaIj6N7FdDsBTlRCTiQGBPtI34rkn+z4Mj6poTO /ahwpFLVGyxSi/UIgj2NqIdyBzAfQkqxhpA0ahprMd/6qFAHOhyrV1YiSgLLR4t4IKlz+Dtb8xDY CzgI4AxosZVGEKe6VxSwb5RLDwO2o7W5pWEGw2vN+pCEADa54A07JF0AGEO6OzgCIHeoHwiPlb8R xm4aSzDGdEwxxMuVTGjjeF3wpgOQLAmxBv64RgQRsr6zkJwwDUC84NMm9yo1OWKGoFCiAlJhmABM gQ36e2J69rE5pTHEemjixguJEsPIcWcahxGBf8i3CAGggIk/yBUzFOdB2FXuHnGMY+VyYMMGDE8A 88AGoNZIOuI8DQIzFIIV+/SAQRXCAJPKUCxJQLSqkeCDgMCDWuKUhBksYAC/hIJGLkgebCAACtig ZR5qWctUvMc3I6gaC4hWg/OEJBVsiObR/OAihCSAJan4pR9mwJkGhAAAOw== ------=_NextPart_000_0030_01C5C349.67524140--
