air france flight 4590 victims

But the airline was convicted of criminal responsibility for the crash, fined 170,000 and ordered to pay Air France 1m Euros. Also facing fines or a custodial sentence were the designers of the plane, who prosecutors say knew that the plane's fuel tanks could be susceptible to damage from foreign objects, as well as a French official responsible for the regulation of the plane's safety. Finally, in 2000 an Air France Concorde's engine failure and subsequent crash killed all 109 people on board and 4 people on the ground. Controller: Beginning reception of a Middle Marker. I just did what had to be done at the time, luckily I only had myself to worry about.. August 1981: British Airways (BA) plane taking off from New York suffered a blow-out, damaging landing gear door, engine, and fuel tank. Recording ends at 14.44.31.16. 14.43.46 - Pilot: "Are (unclear) you cutting engine two; (end of smoke alarm). It struck the metal strip from the DC-10 after it had passed its usual takeoff point on the runway. The Gonesse monument consists of a piece of transparent glass with a piece of an aircraft wing jutting through. She feels guilty; she says, `I killed her'. But in all those incidents it was a piece of flying metal - from the undercarriage or water deflectors - that caused the damage, not tyre rubber itself. Four of the individuals were acquitted, but John Taylor, the. The Rachids are from the Berber Kabyle minority, many of whom are Paris taxi drivers and cafe owners. Concorde Gonesse.jpg 1,890 1,239; 96 KB. 14.43.37 - Controller: "So, at your convenience, you have priority to land.". As Air France has paid out100 millionto the families of the victims, Continental could be made to pay its share of that compensation payout. [6], At one point, it drifted toward a just-landed Air France Boeing 747 that was carrying then-French President Jacques Chirac (who was returning from the 26th G8 summit meeting in Okinawa, Japan). Also, the rear bogie truck of the left hand main undercarriage was replaced. Pilot: Up to 100, 150 (followed by unclear words, sound of switch). The only loss of a Concorde occurred on July 25, 2000 when Air France Flight 4590 (F-BTSC) crashed shortly after takeoff from Charles de Gaulle airport when debris on the runway punctured a tire and ruptured the fuel tank. And it all started with Air France Flight 4590 in 2000. "The Prophet Muhammad told his followers that the woman who dies in childbirth, people who die under rubble - like our dear sister Kenza - are martyrs," he explains, as tears stream down Tassadit's face. On Tuesday 25 July 2000 the Concorde registered F-BTSC, operated by Air France, took off from Paris Charles de Gaulle to undertake charter flight AFR 4590 to New York with nine crew members (3 FC, 6 CC) and one hundred passengers on board. The report does not contain any analysis or final conclusions about the cause of the disaster, and notes that the sequence of damage and the links between the various events have "not yet been fully established". [24][25] According to Jock Lowe, a Concorde pilot, until the crash of Air France Flight 4590 at Paris, the British Airways Concorde operation made a net average profit of about 30M (equivalent to 44M in 2019) a year. Pilot: Too late (unclear). The attention of family, friends and doctors has focused on Tassadit, who, has had breast cancer and suffers from high blood pressure and fainting spells. This communiqu was the result of the NTSB's investigations of four Air France Concorde incidents during a 20-month period from July 1979 to February 1981. The trial started on2 February2010. She wasn't on the plane. A Paris court has said Continental Airlines was "criminally responsible" for the crash of a . They kept phoning her, begging her to come back. The official report by BEA, released on January 2002, determined that a metal strip from Continental Airlines DC-10 destroyed one of the jet's tires. On July 25, 2000, a fully booked flight of the Concorde was set to depart from the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport en route to New York. [30], Due to the veer, the Concorde travelled further down the runway than normal because it was failing to gain sufficient takeoff speed. It is a long time ago though, it is not fresh in my mind still, but it is definitely a date that won't be forgotten. Air France flight 4590, flight of a Concorde supersonic airplane that crashed in Gonesse, a suburb of Paris, on July 25, 2000. "Pilot: "No time, no (unclear). Leaking fuel gushing out from the bottom of the wing was most likely ignited by an electric arc in the landing gear bay or through contact with severed electrical cables. Almost by miracle, they were unscathed by the 1954-62 war of independence and by the violence that has wracked Algeria since 1992. Person in control tower: Its burning badly and Im not sure its coming from the engine (Switch sound similar to fire extinguisher handle being activated). I wouldn't wish that experience upon anyone. Pilot: No time, no (unclear). 14.43.16 - Unidentified voice (simultaneously on radio) "Right; (background noise changes, sound of switch). As Air France had paid out 100 million to the families of the victims, Continental could be made to pay its share of that compensation payout. Mechanic: Im hitting. Air France Flight 4590. Frederikus Georgius Wortelboer was born on March 1, 1929 in Emmer-Compascuum, Drenthe, Netherlands, son of Georgius Frederikus Wortelboer and Gezina Anna Nicola Feijen. But some believe the supersonic jet's reputation never recovered, and the last Concorde flight landed in London Heathrow from New York in October 2003. The airplane went down in flames almost immediately after takeoff, killing all 109 people on board and 4 others on the ground. It was powered by four Rolls-Royce Olympus 593/610 turbojet engines, each of which was equipped with afterburners. I don't think it is an overly negative thing. Co-pilot: Im trying (unclear). "I couldn't refuse her anything. [3]:17 However, the aircraft had passed V1 speed, at which point takeoff is considered unsafe to abort. But the airline was convicted of criminal responsibility for the crash, fined 170,000 and ordered to pay Air France 1m Euros. concorde air france flight 4590 crash: aftermath; england: kent: ext natalie brooking interview sot. 14:42.35 - Unidentified voice on radio channel: "Go on, Christian.". [3]:166[BEA 1], Air traffic controller Gilles Logelin noticed the flames before the Concorde was airborne and informed the flight crew. 14.44.05 - Controller: "Fire service leader, uh the Concorde, I don't know its intentions, get yourself in position near the south doublet; (sound of switch). It shows that the crew, who were unable to retract the undercarriage, had lost all power in one engine and could neither accelerate nor gain altitude, tried desperately to reach Le Bourget airport, nearby. The women - among them Kenza - were due to leave work at 5 p.m., a quarter of an hour after the catastrophe. She hadn't bought a ticket. 14.42.31 - "Top; (noise similar to engines increasing power). "Pilot: "Too late (unclear). Due to the asymmetric thrust, the starboard wing lifted, banking the aircraft to over 100 degrees. 14.43.03 Co-pilot: "V one; (Low-frequency noise). (two gongs and sound of switch, followed by another switch and sounds likened to objects being moved)Pilot: (unclear, sounds like exertion)Pilot: (unclear, sounds like exertion)Pilot: (unclear, sounds like exertion)End of recording, The flight was chartered by German company Peter Deilmann Cruises. Prior to the crash, Marty was an athlete in extreme sports. Departure was delayed by about one hour because the crew had requested a replacement of the thrust reverser pneumatic motor of the no. [6][33][34], While examining the wreckage in a warehouse, British investigators noticed that a spacer was missing from the bogie beam on the left-hand main landing gear. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Also, the rear bogie truck of the left hand main undercarriage was replaced. On 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde passenger jet on an international charter flight from Paris to New York, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 109 people on board and four on the ground. However, a blow-out of this kind has never before led to a fuel fire.". Despite the crew being trained and certified, no plan existed for the simultaneous failure of two engines on the runway, as it was considered highly unlikely. The final terrifying moments of Air France flight 4590 were revealed yesterday when French accident investigators released their preliminary report on last month's Concorde crash outside. Page 32: "The maximum structural weight on takeoff being 185,070kg, it appears that the aircraft was slightly overloaded on takeoff". [52], The trial ran in a Parisian court from February to December 2010. [31], British investigators and former French Concorde pilots re-evaluated two factors that the BEA had found to be of negligible consequence to the crash, the unbalanced weight distribution in the fuel tanks and the loose landing gear. Explore the world of Concorde with Heritage Concorde. There are few grainy images of Concorde's flight to tragedy, but those that exist show the true horror of the disaster. Abdelkader Zaoui, the local imam, says half of its 40,000 residents are Muslims. The official investigation was conducted by France's accident investigation bureau, theBEA, and it was published on16 January2002. Kenza used to say she didn't miss not having a sister because she had her mother. Madjid is a slight man with fine black hair and thick eye-glasses, more reserved in his grief than his wife. Post-accident investigation revealed that the aircraft was at or over the maximum takeoff weight for ambient temperature and other conditions, and 810 kilograms (1,790lb) over the maximum structural weight. Co-pilot: No (two switch noises). Co-pilot: V one (Low-frequency noise). [57] Another monument, a 6,000-square-metre (65,000sqft) memorial surrounded with topiary planted in the shape of a Concorde, was established in 2006 at Mitry-Mory, just south of Charles de Gaulle Airport.[58][59]. [44], French authorities began a criminal investigation of Continental Airlines, whose plane dropped the debris on the runway, in March 2005,[45] and that September, Henri Perrier, the former chief engineer of the Concorde division at Arospatiale at the time of the first test flight in 1969 and the programme director in the 1980s and early 1990s, was placed under formal investigation. French authorities acknowledged that a required runway inspection was not completed after the Continental takeoff, as was protocol for Concorde-takeoff preparation. 14.43.27 - Co-pilot: "Warning, the airspeed indicator, the airspeed indicator, the airspeed indicator; (sound of switch, gong). Most of the Rachids' images of Kenza's 19 years are small ID photos taken in photo booths. "She walks in circles or stands on the balcony, watching the path Kenza used to come home. The youngest child of a retired petrol station attendant and a cleaning lady living on welfare payments, Kenza was the only child of the Rachid family to obtain her baccalaureat in French. Air France Flight 4590 was an international charter flight, from Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris to John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, flown by an Arospatiale-BAC Concorde. Chuyn bay 4590 ca Air France l mt lch trnh bay ca my bay Concorde t Sn bay quc t Charles de Gaulle gn Paris ,Php, n Sn bay quc t John F. Kennedy ti Thnh ph New York, New York, v do Air France vn hnh. It was fined 200,000 ($271,628) and ordered to pay Air France 1 million. The report formally recommends that Concorde's airworthiness certificates should be suspended until "appropriate measures have been put in place to guarantee a satisfactory level of safety as regards the risk associated with tyre blow-outs" - a step the civil aviation authority and its French equivalent, the DGAC, carried out on August 16. Aborting the takeoff would have led to a high-speed runway excursion and collapse of the landing gear, which also would have caused the aircraft to crash. That's a big delay for a plane that makes the entire trip from Charles de Gaulle . ", Yet faith is little comfort to Tassadit. 14.42.43 - Mechanic: "We have four heated up; (sound of switch). Six other people in the hotel were critically injured.[2][3]. The Air France Concorde, carrying mostly German tourists bound for a Caribbean cruise, was taking off from Paris on July 25, 2000, when an engine caught fire. [3]:120123 Engines 1 and 2 both surged and lost all power, and then engine 1 slowly recovered over the next few seconds. At first it was thought to be an engine problem, but an investigation revealed a catalogue of events that may have contributed to the tragedy. Many believe this event accelerated the retirement of the Concorde in 2003. 14.44.30 - Pilot: (unclear, sounds like exertion). Our Facebook forum is where we discuss in detail our current projects, share photo's and where fans of the aircraft can ask questions direct to the engineering team. ", Like most of the families of Concorde victims, the Rachids have not seen their daughter's body and do not know when it will be given to them. The official transcript from the cockpit voice recorder of the Air France Concorde Flight 4590 showed that the pilots were unaware anything was wrong until alerted by the control tower at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. New York-bound Air France Flight 4590 had malfunctioned during take-off, hitting debris on the runway that blew a tyre and sent it crashing in a ball of flames into her hotel. Time: 16:42 17 sec (local time) Control tower: "Air France 4590, runway 26 right, wind zero 90 knots (sic . Fire service leader: De Gaulle tower from fire service leader authorization to enter 26 right. 14.43.22 - Unidentified voice on radio: "It's burning badly, huh; (Gong). Leaking fuel then ignited causing the fire. As it left the gate, it was loaded such that the centre of gravity was excessively faraft. Cambridge University student Alice Brooking had just arrived at the hotel and was on the phone to her sister when she heard a huge explosion and the phone line went dead. While speeding down the runway at takeoff, the aircraft ran over debris on the runway, blowing a tire and puncturing the fuel tank. Controller: Concorde zero 4590, you have flames (unclear) you have flames behind you. Continental's lawyers argued that Concorde was not fit to fly, citing design faults and maintenance failures. The Concorde that crashed was the primary aircraft extensively used in, The timeline and causes of the crash were profiled in the premiere episode of the, The accident and subsequent investigation were featured in the 7th episode during, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 06:11. "In the Prophet's time there were only camels, no means of mass transportation. And they don't know how they will survive without her. 14.43.32 - Mechanic: "The gear; (alarm, similar to toilet smoke alert). The walls of a disused shopping centre and municipal auditorium seem to ooze rust and damp. A transcript of the cockpit voice recorder shows that the supersonic jetliner, starting a flight from Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport to New York, ploughed into a hotel in the small town of Gonesse, just one minute 17 seconds after its pilot, Christian Marty, was told it was on fire. Air France Flight 4590 was a Concorde flight operated by Air France which was scheduled to fly from Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris, to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. "She doesn't sleep or eat. The craft ran over debris on takeoff and blew a tire, kicking up debris which struck its left wing and caused the crash, killing all 113 people onboard. German Concorde victims 49 women and 47 men 3. [3]:115, The accident led to modifications to Concorde, including more-secure electrical controls, Kevlar lining to the fuel tanks, and specially developed burst-resistant tyres. The Concorde was overweight for the given conditions, with an excessively aft centre of gravity and taking off downwind. The NTSB described those incidents as "potentially catastrophic", because they were caused by blown tyres during takeoff. Air France and Airbus have been put under investigation for "involuntary homicide" and the BEA reports suggested a number of factors, including human error, led to the tragedy. I called her Kenza because it means `little treasure'. Pilot: (unclear, sounds like exertion). The Captain was Pilot Flying (PF), the First Officer (FO) was Pilot Not Flying (PNF). Aborting the takeoff would have led to a high-speed runway excursion and collapse of the landing gear, which also would have caused the aircraft to crash. [42] Air France stopped flights in May 2003, followed by British Airways five months later. 14.34 Ground controller gives the plane permission to taxi toward the runway. She received her results - 15 out of 20 - just a couple of days before she was killed, but never had a chance to tell her parents, who were on holiday in Algeria. 14.42.26 - Pilot: "Up to 100, 150; (followed by unclear words, sound of switch). Five individuals also stood trial two Continental employees and three French officials, all denying the charges. Specifically, discussion will involve: . Co-pilot: Watch out. Victims of the Air France Flight 4590: 96 German citizens were among those killed. An event like that in your life makes you quite profound, it makes you realise how fragile life is, that anything can happen at any time. The airline suggested that the Concorde "was already on fire when its wheels hit the titanium strip, and that around 20 first-hand witnesses had confirmed that the plane seemed to be on fire immediately after it began its take-off roll". Rajeenee Chundunsing (41), from Mauritius, was raising two children alone and had worked at the Hotelissimo for a year. Using cuts from the Air Crash Investigation programme, I have compiled together the events of Air France Flight 4590 crash from start to finish. Co-pilot: Le Bourget, Le Bourget, Le Bourget. [35][49], At the same time, charges were laid against Henri Perrier, head of the Concorde program at Arospatiale, Jacques Hrubel, Concorde's chief engineer, and Claude Frantzen, head of DGAC, the French airline regulator. November 1985: Tyre burst on a BA plane leaving Heathrow, causing damage to the landing gear door and fuel tank. [3]:159[28][29] Fuel transfer during taxiing left the number 5 wing tank 94 percent full. "But we need guarantees that such a chain of events cannot happen again.". Charges against Jacques Herubel were reported to have been dropped, but on3 July2008, confirmation of the trial, including Herubel, was published. The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) recorded the last intelligible words in the cockpit (translated into English):[15][16], Co-pilot: "Le Bourget, Le Bourget, Le Bourget. Safety efforts were therefore concentrated on strengthening all the metal parts that could be broken off in a tyre burst, but not on protecting the wings themselves. In the wake of the disaster, the entire Concorde fleet was grounded. The crew were trying to head for nearby Le Bourget airport to make an emergency landing, but the damaged jet could not get enough airspeed and with its engines failing it crashed into the Hotelissimo in Gonesse killing everyone on board and five people on the ground. The pilots tried . Air France Flight 4590 an Accident . At 4:44 p.m. Paris time on July 25, 2000, with pilot Christian Marty and copilot Jean Marcot at the controls, Air France Flight 4590 blew a tire on its left main gear on takeoff from Charles de . The family moved to the flat where they still live in GargeslesGonesse when Kenza was three. Meanwhile today's date will be fixed on the mind of Alice for ever, she said: "It is one of those dates that I don't think I will ever forget until the day I die. The BEA said last month that the 40cm piece of metal almost certainly gashed the Concorde's tyre, sending large chunks of rubber hurtling at tremendous speed into the plane's fuel tanks, which are contained in its delta-shaped wings, and starting the blaze. But other people are in things far more distressing. The women - among them. 14.43.39 - Pilot: "Gear (unclear), coming up.". Thanks to Curiosity Stream for sponsoring today's video. It is one of those things that you can't pinpoint when the recovery finished. Engine number one surged again, but this time failed to recover. When Air France flight 4590 crashed into the roadside Hotelissimo near Roissy airport on July 25th, it killed 109 passengers and crew and four hotel chambermaids. Top (noise similar to engines increasing power). Any effect on takeoff performance from this excess weight was negligible. Pilot: Is everyone ready? This wear strip had been replaced atTel Aviv, Israel, during aC checkon 11 June 2000. Concorde Crash site & memorial (27818400257).jpg 6,900 4,600; 6.2 MB. It does still trouble me to a certain extent. Flying at. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Analysis of test results revealed the level of kinetic energy necessary to cause the rupture of fuel tank. This compromised the alignment of the landing gear and the wobbling beam and gears allowing three degrees of movement possible in any direction. Negative; we are trying Le Bourget." The accident investigation revealed that Air France 4590's right front tire on the left main landing gear was destroyed after having run over a strip of metal debris shed by a Continental Airlines DC-10-30, which departed on the runway just five minutes prior. Air France Flight 4590 was an Arospatiale-BAC Concorde, registration F-BTSC, on a scheduled international flight from Paris, France, to New York City, on 25 July 2000, local time 16:43 CET. This paper focuses on the causes that led to the accident of Air France 4590 which crashed during an attempted takeoff from runway 26R at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris late afternoon July 25, 2000. [47][50][51] It was alleged that Perrier, Hrubel, and Frantzen knew that the plane's fuel tanks could be susceptible to damage from foreign objects, but nonetheless allowed it to fly. Further maintenance work had been performed at Houston, Texas, but the strip had been neither manufactured nor installed in accordance with the procedures as defined by the manufacturer. On 25 July 2000, it crashed into a hotel in Gonesse, France. I turned around and the walls of my hotel room were caving in and flames were coming through the walls. This information is part of . Alice said: I like to prioritise things I think are important. A minute later air traffic control announced: "To all listening aircraft, please hold back a moment. Air France Flight 4590 was a Concorde flight operated by Air France which was scheduled to fly from Charles de Gaulle International Airport near Paris, to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. Marty's last words, at a few seconds after 2.44pm on July 25, were: "Too late no time." "He was only supposed to ask them to phone me, but as soon as she saw his face, Tassadit begged him to tell her. Fuel transfer during taxiing may have overfilled the number five wing tank. Date: 25 July 2000. The French appeals court, while overturning the criminal rulings by the Parisian court, affirmed the civil ruling and left Continental liable for the compensation claims. While taking off, the aircraft ran over debris on the runway, blowing a tyre and puncturing a fuel tank, leading to fire and engine failure. "Control tower: "Fire service leader, correction, the Concorde is returning to runway zero nine in the opposite direction. Any effect on takeoff performance from this excess weight was negligible. [3]:17,107[7] At 16:42, the Concorde ran over this piece of debris during its take-off run, cutting the right-front tyre (tyre No 2) of its left main wheel bogie and sending a large chunk of tyre debris (4.5 kilograms or 9.9 pounds) into the underside of the left wing at an estimated speed of 140 metres per second (270kn; 500km/h; 310mph). Airplane crashes happen, and make headline news around the world. The report showed. Air France Flight 4590 Air Philippines Flight 541 Alliance Air Flight 7412 B British Airways Flight 2069 C Crossair Flight 498 D Dirgantara Air Service Flight 3130 E Emery Worldwide Airlines Flight 17 G Gulf Air Flight 072 H Hapag-Lloyd Flight 3378 K Kenya Airways Flight 431 L Lao Aviation Flight 703 M Malv Flight 262 The pilot flying, First Officer Pierre-Cdric Bonin, stares dully at the instrument panel. Marks worked on Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde that ran over debris on a Paris runway during takeoff and crashed into a hotel in 2000, killing everyone aboard. He was married on December 17, 1976 in Oosterhout, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands to (Not public), they gave birth to 1 child. But children, very old people and martyrs are exonerated from judgment. The American was a retired Air France employee, but the. It's 1:00 a.m., the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The flight wascharteredby German companyPeter Deilmann Cruises; the passengers were on their way to board the cruise shipMSDeutschlandin New York City for a 16-day cruise toManta, Ecuador. However the air crash investigation found that a piece of debris had fallen onto the runway from an earlier Continental Airlines plane. Air France identified the passengers on board the chartered flight AF4590 as 96 Germans, 2 Danes, an Austrian and an American. This was immediately confirmed by the Captain's calling for the engine fire procedure". It was the first fatal crash of a Concorde in 24 years of regular passenger service. Co-pilot: 100 knots. [citation needed]The aircraft had passed close to aBoeing747carrying French PresidentJacques Chirac which was much further down the runway than the Concorde's usual takeoff point; only then did it strike the metal strip from the DC-10. THE REAL STORY OF FLIGHT 4590: SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: A freak 'single cause' accident was blamed when an Air France Concorde crashed in flames in Paris last year, killing 114 people. interior shots of guests arriving at a memorial service for victims of the air france concorde flight 4590 crash at l'eglise de la madeleine. Her father, Madjid, now 61, came to join his father in France in 1957. Controller: "Air France 4590, runway 26 right, wind zero 90 knots, authorized takeoff." Co-pilot: "4590 taking off 26 right" (sound of switch). Write by: . Controller: So, at your convenience, you have priority to land. Air France has paid 100m euro in compensation to the families of the crash victims. Paris, France (CNN) -- The fiery crash that brought down a Concorde supersonic jet in 2000, killing 113 people, was caused partially by the criminal negligence of Continental Airlines and a . 14.07 Controller gives permission to start, confirms runway 26 right as requested by crew. Having passedV1speed, the crew continued the takeoff, but the plane did not gain enough airspeed with the three remaining engines, because the severed electrical cables prevented the retraction of the undercarriage. Controller: Fire service leader, uh the Concorde, I dont know its intentions, get yourself in position near the south doublet (sound of switch). I think it makes you a less superficial person, you are thoughtful and you have a different perspective than most of the people around you. The aircraft flew for approximately one minute.". A Japanese tourist was on a 747 sat on the runway at Charles de Gaulle he too snapped pictures of the doomed airliner as it headed for disaster. All 109 passengers and four people on the ground died. All 109 on-board were killed as were four people on the ground. In September 2005, Henri Perrier, the former head of the Concorde division atArospatiale, and Jacques Herubel, the Concorde chief engineer, came under investigation for negligence: a report stated that the company had more than 70 incidents involving Concorde tyres between 1979 and 2000, but had failed to take appropriate steps based upon these incidents. The fire caused damage to the port wing, which began to disintegratemelted by the extremely high temperatures. [3]:155[30][BEA 5], The final report was issued on 16 January 2002. 14.44 - Co-pilot: "The airspeed indicator.". After reaching takeoff speed, the tyre of the number 2 wheel was cut by a metal strip (awear strip) lying on the runway, which had fallen from the thrust reverser cowl door of the number 3 engine of a Continental Airlines DC-10 which had taken off from the same runway five minutes previously. I didn't know anyone who died in this tragedy, so that in itself removed a lot of my pain. The jet crashed into a hotel in nearby Gonesse two minutes after takeoff. When it stood at the end of the runway, ready to roll, it was over its approved maximum takeoff weight for the given conditions. But with only 2km of runway remaining and travelling at high speed, captain Christian Marty had no option but to take-off. Mechanic: Yes. The crew was trying to divert to nearbyLe Bourget Airport, but accident investigators stated that a safe landing, given the aircraft's flight path, would have been highly unlikely.