Continental Airlines’ conviction of involuntary homicide in a crash that killed 113 people may “discourage open discussion of flight hazards,” The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704156304576002940585687556.html?mod=ITP_marketplace_0
The story, “In Wake of Concorde Verdict, A Heated Air Safety Debate,” was a reaction piece to a French court fining Continental $1.6 million for the crash of an Air France Concorde a decade ago.
The court found that Continental and one of its mechanics didn’t properly maintain a plane, which dropped debris on a runway at Charles de Gaulle airport in 20o0. The Concorde hit the debris and damaged a tire, sending rubber from that tire slamming into the plane and causing a fuel leak. The Concorde then crashed.
“The trial is the latest example of a world-wide trend to pursue criminal charges in airliner accidents, which many aviation experts worry threatens to erode safety by chilling early, open discussions of hazards,” The Journal reported.
That is such a big fear that the International Aviation Organization, part of the United Nations, will be asking governments “to avoid the criminalization of mistakes,” according to The Journal.
There is also the belief by some that the French Court found Continental guilty because the horrific crash was caused by non-French people.
Continental plans to appeal the court’s decision.
