PONTOISE, France - A French court yesterday rejected defense lawyers’ requests to call off the long-awaited trial on the crash of a Concorde supersonic jet, a decision clearing the way for four months of intense debate on who was to blame.
Continental, based in Houston, is on trial because investigators say a Continental DC-10 dropped a piece of metal onto the runway minutes before the Concorde took off. They say the debris gashed the plane’s tire, sending pieces of rubber into the fuel tanks and sparking a fire. Continental says a fire broke out on the Concorde before it reached the debris.
