French court to try US airline over Concorde crash

PARIS, July 3 (Reuters) - A French judge has ordered U.S. airline Continental Airlines and five individuals to stand trial over the crash of an Air France Concorde that killed 113 people, a prosecutor's statement said on Thursday.

The judge said the defendants, including a man who played a major part in the development of the supersonic airliner, should be tried for involuntary manslaughter.

The Concorde crashed in flames minutes after take off from Paris' Charles De Gaulle airport on July 25, 2000, killing all 109 aboard and four people on the ground.

Subsequent investigations concluded that a narrow strip of metal had fallen onto the runway from a previous Continental flight. This then burst a tyre on the departing Concorde sending shrapnel flying into the plane's oil tanks which caught fire.

Continental has denied any responsibility for the crash and has said it would fight any potential charges. (Reporting by Crispian Balmer)