"After deadly roof collapse, Paris airport terminal reopens partially"

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

After deadly roof collapse, Paris airport terminal reopens partially
The Associated Press


PARIS - Nearly three months after a deadly collapse of its futuristic
roof, a Paris airport terminal reopened to commercial jet traffic on
Tuesday, officials said.

Six flights were to operate daily through terminal 2E at Charles de
Gaulle airport, where part of the tube-shaped departure hall fell in on
May 23, killing four passengers.

The partial reopening, which follows safety inspections, is to provide
service for only about 1,000 passengers each day _ far fewer than the
25,000 that the terminal could handle before the collapse.

"There's clearly emotion after the accident on May 23, but especially
satisfaction," said Francois Goulard, secretary of state for
transportation. "The part of 2E that reopened is running well."

A first Air France flight took off for Casablanca, Morocco, around 9:35
a.m. local time, said Marina Tymen, a spokesman for the carrier. The
airline plans four flights daily to Casablanca and two to Istanbul,
Turkey, from the terminal, she said.

Air France is to decide in mid-December whether to increase flight
traffic through Terminal 2E, Tymen said.

Two investigations are continuing into the collapse of the departure
hall, less than a year after the new structure opened. Falling glass,
steel and masonry killed two Chinese, one Czech and one Lebanese
travelers, and injured three others.

A preliminary report released last month suggested that poor quality
concrete could have been partly to blame.

Terminal 2E was designed by French architect Paul Andreu, who is
currently working on a new opera house in Beijing.


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