Concorde crash lawsuit

[237SJ]

Continental Airlines were fined today under the premise that they were responsible for the Air France Concorde crash. Do you you think they were responsible for the accident, even thought many other factors were involved, and they shoud "carry the can"?

[DTCwordfan]

Apparently the Air France Concorde pilot got the "Legion D'Honneur" award from Jacques Chirac - the citation: "For killing more Germans than the whole of the French Air Force in the 2nd World War."

[Gromit]

DTcrosswordfan
Most of the victims were children. Your joke is sick.

[DTCwordfan]

With due respect you are wrong Gromit - there were 96 Germans aboard heading eventually to a cruise ship in the Caribbean........an domne of the issue was that th eplane was heavy with above average weight passengers laden down with their luggae, far more than the average Concorde flights. I worked for an oil major with substantial aviation operations and saw the internal reports at the time.

[DTCwordfan]

To be totally quantitative, Gromit, there was the total sum of 3 children aboard - not exactly "most of the victims" that you quote. Apology please......

I am not going to apologise for some sick humour - it is all over the place......I am not endorsing the death of children - that was as equally tragic as the loss of any of the folk on the plane - or on the ground as I believe four went when the plane hit the hotel.

[flip_flop]

Made me laugh.

[flip_flop]

Eddie - I've often thought that.

I can remember queing at Gatwick a few years ago for a flight to Grand Cayman and had to pay an excess luggage charge for my Scuba gear whereas the guy behind me must have been at least 20 stone, so at the time would have been at least 8 stone heavier than me. His luggage wasn't overweight.

To add insult to injury I sat next to him on the flight and in addition to filling his seat his bulk also meant he was spilling in to mine - it was just about the most uncomforatble flight I've ever experienced. I didn't have enough room to eat properly and it was impossible getting any sleep.

Didn't Michael O'Leary suggest a few years ago that fat people should buy two seats? It may have been said tongue in cheek, but is a very sensible idea.

[anotheoldgit]

If it went on weight then there would not be any "free" kids places.

Their weight would be calculated along with their parents weight + luggage..

[Zeuhl]

Specifically, weren't Continental found guilty of bodging repairs and using Titanium which is a banned metal due to the damage it can do to other aircraft's tyres if it falls off as a piece did in the concorde crash?
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[DTCwordfan]

well there was research work done on the incident and like all these things, it takes two or more unfortunates to come toigether. Yes, on Continental, but also with the weight of the passengers and all their luggage (remember the normal Concorde passenger usually travelled lightly as many of them had homes either side of the Pond), the plane was sitting down on its wheels. Calculations have been done that show i it had been a normal Paris to Caracas or NY flight, the erroneous strip would have dinged the fuselage but not punctured it.

This work, in part, led to the low cost/quick solution of spraying a thin kevlar layer on the insides of the fuel tanks to strengthen them........

[Zeuhl]

<<"free" kids places>> is a marketing device.

There is no reason why they couldn't be offered if other seats were normally sold on weight criteria.
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[wolf63]

I can't comment on the technicalities of the crash - I don't understand how aeroplanes stay up in the air against the gravitational pull of the planet.

I am fat (20 stone female) and would have no problem paying a flight cost based on my weight and the weight of my luggage. I would even pay more for a wider seat. If I did this I would expect that the free child seats would be no more!

[Zeuhl]

Point taken Wolf - that would be better all round

Pay for what you get and get what you pay for

'Free' child seats are usually provided when full price adult seats are purchased. If someone was surchaged for weight perhaps they could be offered a 'Free' seat for a small companion or an extra allowance for carry on luggage such as a picnic hamper. :-)