-- Five individuals as well as Continental Airlines were facing trial in Paris Tuesday in the 2000 crash of an Air France Concorde jet.
The people and the company are charged with involuntary manslaughter in the July 25, 2000, crash of Air France Flight 4590, which killed 113 people when it exploded shortly after takeoff from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport, CNN reported.
A 2004 investigation concluded a tire under the left wing blew up when it struck a small strip of titanium left on the runway by a Continental DC-10 which took off just before the Concorde, the U.S. broadcaster reported. Prosecutors allege the strip wasn't installed properly on the DC-10 engine, which has resulted in charges against the airline and two of its employees.
The crash has been widely regarded as the beginning of the end for supersonic passenger flights, with the last Concorde flight coming in 2003, Radio France Internationale reported.
The French broadcaster says Continental denies the metal strip is to blame for the crash, during which the Concorde's wing and one of its engines caught fire.
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