French prosecutor wants U.S. airline to be charged

PARIS (Reuters) - A French public prosecutor has asked judges to bring manslaughter charges against U.S. carrier Continental Airlines over the 2000 crash of a Concorde that killed 113 people, the prosecutor's office said late Tuesday.

The prosecutor recommended similar charges be brought against a French engineer involved in the development of the now grounded supersonic jet, the former head of France's civil aviation authority and two Continental Airlines staff.

A judicial investigation concluded after the July 2000 crash that a piece of metal left on the runway from a Continental flight caused one of the Air FranceConcorde's tires to burst on takeoff and send debris into an engine.

The plane crashed into a hotel outside Paris.

A judge is expected to decide in coming weeks whether to accept the request filed by the Pontoise prosecutor's office, situated outside Paris.

Continental denied any responsibility for the crash and said it would fight any potential charges.

"Continental remains firmly convinced that neither it nor its employees were the cause of the Concorde tragedy and we will continue to defend ourselves vigorously against any criminal charges," spokeswoman Julie King said on Wednesday in an e-mail statement.

(Writing by Brian Rohan, editing by Sami Aboudi and Maureen Bavdek)