Concorde Crashes in France, 113 Killed

G O N E S S E, France, July 25 -- An Air France Concorde jetliner en route to New York slammed into a hotel outside Paris today shortly after takeoff, killing all 109 people aboard and four more people on the ground.

The charter flight burst into flames on impact in the first-ever crash of the needle-nosed supersonic jet. The passengers, mostly German tourists, were headed to New York to catch a luxury cruise to South America.

Air France said there were 100 passengers aboard, including an American, and nine crew members. State Department sources identified the American as Christopher Behrens, an Air France retiree living in Germany. The passenger list also included 96 Germans, two Danes and an Austrian.

France’s LCI television on Wednesday identified those killed at the hotel as a British tourist, French woman and two Poles.

Charred Wreckage, Billowing Smoke

Chartered by a German tour company, Flight AF4590 was en route from Paris to New York when it went down in the town of Gonesse, hitting a 72-room hotel and a nearby restaurant. At least a dozen other people were injured on the ground, where the hotel and the restaurant were in flames, but in good condition, French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said.

Eight hours after the crash, thick billowing white smoke still rose some 100 feet into the air, and the smell of burning wreckage was perceptible from 700 yards away, where reporters and onlookers gathered behind French police officers. The wreckage left a swath of charred metal, singed trees and smoldering ruins.

There was no immediate word on what might have caused the crashof the jet, though experts say investigators would likely focus on engine trouble after seeing a photograph which appeared to show flames spewing from at least one of the engines. The plane had been in service since 1980 and had just had a mechanical checkup on Friday.

The aircraft’s so-called black boxes — the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder — were found at the scene, French officials told ABCNEWS. French Interior Ministry sources said sabotage was not suspected and Justice Ministry sources said anti-terrorism investigators would not be involved in the inquiry.