DING!!!!.....You can't make this up!!

If THEY (Air France) would have followed THEIR predetermined procedures of pre-takeoff FOD check for Concorde departures, this most likely would be a moot point. Having the Concorde crew waved this inspection puts all liability on them.......(one would think).

The French response heard loud and clear:
Qui, moi??? Prendre des responsabilities???:confused:
(Who me??? Take responsibility???)

I hope Continental tells the French to take this ruling and shove it where the sun don't shine. Give me a break!

Who did the French blame when the new terminal at CDG collapsed?

How the hell can they blame somebody for a piece of metal falling off of an airplane? I'm sure they would have blamed the Continental pilots for not noticing a piece of metal. They're claiming the mechanics installed it wrong. No doubt the pilots would be in a french prison for life if it was up to France. Damn french and their idiocracy.

I have a close source (father was a Concorde engineer at BA for a long time) who says the blown tire had nothing to do with any foregin objects on the ground but was indeed the result of a missing wheel spacer which wasn't replaced during a routine service. This caused the tire to shred as the Concorde accelerated down the runway with the wheel at an offset angle.

I saw a special on tv about this disaster. The show claimed that three firemen in a firetruck were abeam the concorde when it started its takeoff roll. They witnessed the entire event. They said the left MLG was smoking before it was 1/3 the way down the runway.

Anybody else here the same? This goes along with EnglishmaninNY's story.

Here is a very good report.

The tires were skidding across the pavement due to the missing spacer, which caused the PIC to rotate early since they were headed into the grass.

Concorde: For the Want of a Spacer