France, Britain To Talk On Concorde?

Air France's Concordes must remain grounded because of continuing doubts about last month's crash, and the British and French should work on new safety measures for the plane, the French Transport Ministry said Friday.

The ministry did not reveal if its inquiry into the July 25 disaster, which killed 113 people, had uncovered security problems with the basic Concorde design, but it urged caution.

"Concorde is the only supersonic airliner in the world, and there are only a small number in service. As a result, despite its long life, its track record is less developed than that of any other aircraft in civilian fleets," it said in a statement.

British Airways, the only other company to operate Concordes, has resolutely maintained its supersonic service in the wake of the fatal accident.

French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot said he would speak to his British counterpart later in the day to propose that their aviation authorities work together on "common measures" for Concorde in the light of current investigations.

The British Civil Aviation Authority reiterated that it had full confidence in the needle-nosed plane. "We have people working in France with the crash investigators, and we have heard nothing to indicate a problem with the plane itself," a spokesman said. "The French would have told us immediately if there was any action that needed taking."

The investigators say the stray piece of metal found on the edge of the runway "probably"ripped one of the tires of the doomed Concorde, CBS News Correspondent Russ Mitchell reports.

Heavy debris from the tires was sprayed upward; the heaviest piece of rubber weighed 9 pounds.

Then one or two fuel tanks, directly above the tire, were ruptured, causing a massive leak and dramatic flames.

Investigators are still trying to determine the origin of the metal strip.

Airport authorities say the runway was checked just hours before the plane took off.

France's Accident Investigation Bureau said the metal strip, later found at the side of the runway at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport, fitted the shape of a cut in one of the tires and "it is probable that this piece (of metal) caused the cut."

"According to a process which has yet to be determined, one or several fuel tanks on the left wing were very rapidly damaged, causing a major fuel leak and the fire," a statement said.

It was the Accident Investigation Bureau's first clear scenario for the disaster, and French Transport Ministry officials, aviation experts and investigators met Friday to review the probe findings. The airliner crashed in flames into a hotel in the town of Gonesse minutes after taking off for New York on July 25; All 109 people on board and four on the ground were killed.

"If the scenario seems to be becoming clearer, for example as concerns the reasons for the burst tire, uncertainties remain over thchronology of the chain of events as well as on particular elements, such as the source and size of the fire," the Frency ministry statement said.

French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot has said the Air France Concordes will not fly again until experts understand exactly what caused the accident.

At the same time, a report in the British New Scientist raised questions about the needle-nosed jet's engines. According to the publication, a 1998 study commissioned by British Airways shows 55 "significant risks" inherent in the design of the Concorde engines.

The report says some of those risks could lead to problems such as uncontrolled fire and multiple engine failure, both of which befell the Concorde in last month's accident.

British Airways and Air France stress that the engines satisfy the requirements of civil aviation authorities in France, Britain and the United States.

But British Airways and Rolls Royce, the engine's manufacturer, are halfway through a program to repair the most serious risks. And CBS News Correspondent Elaine Cobbe reports, one-quarter of the risks involve redesigning some engine parts still in use in both British Airways and Air France fleets. Half the risks needed "further analysis."

The program was begun immediately after the completion of the study, according to a paper given to a meeting of the Confederation of European Aerospace Societies last year.