http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/12/06/france.concorde.trial/index.html
An Air France Concorde plane blows up.
Air France pays millions in damages to families.
They stop flying the Concorde permanently.
Now, 10 years later, we find out that the crash was in no way the fault of any French person or business. It was the American airline and some poor schmuck American mechanic who is sentenced to jail (suspended, albeit) that brought down the great French plane.
Never mind that the plane was incapable of handling a little debris on the runway without exploding into ball of fire, killing everyone on board. That obviously had nothing to do with the airline that flew or maintained the plane.
Sure... were buying that.
Are American's faultless so we know none must have been guilty?
As usual, none of us here know enough of the case to make any claim about the validity of the trial so the reactions to such court cases are invariably coming from the prejudices of those who are looking for an excuse to get on the high horse. In this case, you.
Oh, and EADS is paying 30% of the damages. If you had read the article properly without your parochial glasses you might have avoided making silly claims about the decision implying that "in no way the fault of any French person or business".
Originally posted by PalynkaYes, I guess.
Are American's faultless so we know none must have been guilty?
As usual, none of us here know enough of the case to make any claim about the validity of the trial so the reactions to such court cases are invariably coming from the prejudices of those who are looking for an excuse to get on the high horse. In this case, you.
Oh, and EADS is paying 30% ...[text shortened]... aims about the decision implying that "in no way the fault of any French person or business".
I was in fiesty mood this morning over the Helen Thomas thing. Maybe I overreacted.
I still think it's funny that the French court assigned essentially all the blame to some mechanic, though.
Aren't airplanes and pilots supposed to be able to handle a little runway debris without blowing up?
Originally posted by sh76Yeah, sorry if I went a bit over the top, too. 😛 I was just annoyed by the US vs Euro thing (which many on both sides fuel).
Yes, I guess.
I was in fiesty mood this morning over the Helen Thomas thing. Maybe I overreacted.
I still think it's funny that the French court assigned essentially all the blame to some mechanic, though.
Aren't airplanes and pilots supposed to be able to handle a little runway debris without blowing up?
I don't know. I agree that it sounds suspect, but the constructor company also had to pay damages (30% of it). I'm not sure how often that happens in plane crashes. I think court decisions like this tend to be given a hefty amount of spin by the media in the direction they want. If this decision is only coming out now, one can imagine the amount of information we're missing here.
I don't know if pilots could even see such small debris to handle it. The BBC says the decision was mostly because the parts the mechanic use were titanium which are known to be dangerous for plane tyres. So it seems it's not about size, but punch. Continental is appealing, so I'm guessing a few more years until we get a final decision.
BTW, I have nothing against Europe or Europeans. I'm not one of these tea partiers screaming about how we cant turn into western Europe. I see nothing wrong with looking to Europe for their good ideas (and ignoring the bad ones). Western Europe has some problems, sure. But, so do we all. I admire countries like Britain and the Netherlands and the Scandanavian countries to some extent. The French tend to grate on me sometimes from a political perspective, at least they did under Chirac; but I have nothing against France either; or Italy or the Iberian countries, etc. I'm not enthralled with the Swiss because they ripped off my grandfather, but that's another matter. I don't even have anything against modern Germany, as I do not really associate them with the people who gassed my great grandparents.
What anti-European sentiments come from me now and then are products of a backlash against perceived anti-Americanism emanating from Europe. Though I'm sure even that is more strutting than substance also.
