Concorde relatives seek £200m payout compensation

Relatives the German passengers killed in the Paris Concorde disaster are to seek compensation of nearly £200m, their lawyer said yesterday.

Relatives the German passengers killed in the Paris Concorde disaster are to seek compensation of nearly £200m, their lawyer said yesterday.

Christof Wellens said the relatives had opened negotiations with Air France to establish a compensation fund for the dependants of the 96 Germans who died.

Mr Wellens said there could be no limit to the compensation demands if it were proved that Air France had not done enough to avoid the crash in the light of any known flaws in the aircraft's design.

He added that if the negotiations with Air France failed, legal action might be taken under international treaties.

The British and French governments yesterday pledged to do everything possible to ensure Concorde flights resume once the aircraft is proved to be safe.

After representatives from the Civil Aviation Authority and its French counterpart met at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, they released a short statement saying that "both sides share the same determination to work together to find a solution to put Concorde safely back in service".

British Airways grounded all its Concorde flights on Tuesday. Air France suspended all services of the plane immediately after the crash.

Anglo-French air accident investigators announced that a single burst tyre caused the July 25 crash in which 113 people died.

A spokesman for the DETR said future meetings were likely to involve airline manufacturers.