Stanley Ford was the chief maintenance inspector for Continental Airlines at the time of the crash of Concorde flight 4590 in Paris on July 25, 2000. Ford, along with fellow Continental employee John Taylor, are to stand trial for the crash, which killed a total of 113 people.1
Stanley Ford and John Taylor are being held responsible for a metal strip that fell onto the runway from a Continental plane that took off just before the Concorde. The metal strip caused the Concorde's tire to burst, which sent debris into the plane's engine and fuel tank. It is alleged that the metal strip was made of titanium rather than the softer aluminium required by safety rules.
Three Frenchmen are also being held responsible for the crash. Henri Perrier, director of the first Concorde program at Aerospatiale, Jacques Herubel, Concorde's former chief engineer and Claude Frantzen, former director of technical services at the French civil aviation authority, are all being held responsible for a glitch in the wing that inspectors say may have contributed to the crash.2