Crash inquiry continues as other news stories begin to take precedence

It took only three days for the dramatic news coverage of the Concorde aircraft catastrophe to fade

It took only three days for the dramatic news coverage of the Concorde aircraft catastrophe to fade. After the crash, Air France stopped distributing newspapers on its flights - so its passengers would not be upset.

But yesterday the extension of the legal abortion period in France, a vote on autonomy in the Corsican assembly, football and holiday traffic jams took precedence over the air disaster in the French press. Air France can safely hand out newspapers again.

There are other signs of tragedy fatigue. Only a few hundred people turned up yesterday for a memorial march from Gonesse town hall to the site where 114 people died.

"Don't forget the four who died in the hotel," said Michele Fricheteau, the manager of the Hotel Issimo, onto which the Concorde crashed.

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The tabloid newspaper Le Parisien came up with a report - attributed to "a source close to the investigation" - that a kerosene afterburner pump which failed on engine two was replaced on the morning of the crash. Air France categorically denied the story, denouncing "irresponsible reports on the disaster".

Authorities leading two crash investigations - one technical, the other in theory criminal - now predict a long wait.

The Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA), part of the transport ministry, will release preliminary conclusions in a month, while the public prosecutor said only that "it will take some time".

French law requires a manslaughter investigation for all deaths that do not arise from natural causes.

In the Concorde inquiry, the BEA's specialists are referred to as "experts" while the gendarmes co-opted by the prosecutor are "investigators". They share access to the same evidence; which is, of course, already causing friction.

"Let's let the investigators do their work," the director of civil aviation, Pierre Graf, told Le Monde. "There may be significant differences between what has been said by (the deputy prosecutor Elisabeth) Senot and reality."

The crash has aggravated quarrels between local residents and the airport authority over the completion of a fourth runway at Roissy, and between Greens and the government over the idea of a third Paris airport.

While Air France continues to suspend all Concorde flights until further notice, the Green deputy Noel Mamere, has demanded that the world's only supersonic airliners be sent to museums. "Its technology dates from the 1960s, that is to say from another century, some sort of Gallic monstre sacre," Mr Mamere said.

The BEA yesterday revealed that the fire on the left side of the aircraft appears to have started outside the engines.

If confirmed, this refutes the theory that a foreign object was ingested by engine two, starting the fire.

The BEA also announced that one or two of the tyres on the left side burst during take-off.

There have been at least four prevalent theories in three days, but yesterday experts favoured the most recent: that when the landing gear (which the pilot was unable to retract) began to break up during take-off, a piece shot into the left wing fuel tanks, causing a leak which was ignited by the engine afterburners.

Lara Marlowe

Lara Marlowe

Lara Marlowe is an Irish Times contributor