Manslaughter case against Concorde chief over crash

THE French authorities have launched a manslaughter case against the former head of the Concorde programme in connection with the Paris air crash that killed 113 people.

Henri Perrier, chief engineer on the plane's first test flight in 1969, was placed under investigation - a step short of formal charges - late yesterday for manslaughter and involuntary injury as part of an investigation into the 2000 crash near Charles de Gaulle airport.

Investigators questioned Perrier for nearly 12 hours and into the early hours of this morning.

Perrier led the Concorde programme in the 1980s and early 1990s.

He is the first of four former executives of Aerospatiale - a French plane maker now part of Eads - called to appear before investigating judge Christophe Regnard in the case.