French Court Fines Continental Over Concorde Crash

The Air France Concorde seconds before it crashed

A court in France today found that Continental Airlines was "criminally responsible" for a Concorde crash near Paris 10 years ago that killed 113 people.

The judge ordered the U.S.-based company to pay a fine of 200,000 euros ($270,000).

A Continental mechanic was given a 15-month suspended prison sentence.

Continental had argued that the supersonic jet's operator, Air France, was to blame for the tragedy, but the court today ordered Continental to pay more than 1 million euros to Air France for moral damages.

On July 25, 2000, the Air France Concorde plunged into a hotel outside Paris soon after takeoff, killing all 109 people aboard and four on the ground.

compiled from agency reports