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Monday, 31 July, 2000, 13:22 GMT 14:22 UK
Families wiped out in crash

Moenchengladbach cries for its victims

The victims of the AF4590 crash include all 109 people on board and five who
died on the ground when the plane crashed into the Hotelissimo.



German Concorde victims
49 women and 47 men
3 children died
Paid up to $ 10,000 each
Most were over 60
Oldest victim: 91
Youngest victim: 7

In addition to the 96 German passengers were two Danes, an American and an
Australian. The nine crew were all French.



The passengers were flying to New York to join a Caribbean cruise for a
"vacation of a lifetime".

Many people were travelling with their spouses, children or elderly parents, and
in some cases whole families were wiped out. Three children were among the dead.



This plane crash was different. This time it was our friends, our families, our
beloved ones

Monika Bartsch, Moenchengladbach Mayor

The western German city of Moenchengladbach was the worst hit by the tragedy.
Thirteen of its leading citizens, including the director of a business school, a
furniture shop owner and the head of a security company, died in the Concorde
crash.



Both rich and poor among the dead

Although some of the passengers were local celebrities, others were teachers and
post office clerks who had saved up for years for the trip.

As in any other tragedy, behind the names of the victims lie human stories of
lives and dreams abruptly cut off.



1,700 townspeople attended a memorial service on Saturday




 * Kurt Kahle, 51, died in the crash with his 37-year-old wife and son Michael,
   aged eight. Mr Kahle ran a private business school. "He was well liked,
   always laughed and had a smile. He knew how to live life to the full," said a
   friend, Dieter Beines.
   
   

 * Christian Eich, 57, an engineer who ran carmaker BMW's museum, his wife and
   two children and his wife's parents were also among the victims.
   
   

 * German property magnate Andreas Schranner, 64, his wife Maria, 62, their
   daughter Andrea Eich, 38, her husband Christian, 57, and their children
   Katharina, eight, and Maximilian, 10, all perished in the jet.
   
   
   
   Friends and relatives mourn the dead
   
   
   

 * Society photographer Christian Goetz, 60, and his wife Irene Vogt-Goetz, 59,
   had both conquered cancer and had booked the trip to celebrate a new life
   together.
   
   

 * Bundesliga football trainer Rudi Fassnacht, 66, and his wife Sigrid, 63, from
   Cologne.
   
   

 * Middle-aged Rolf and Doris Maldry and Klaus and Margret Frentzen. Modest
   school teachers, they had saved for the Concorde trip for years. For the
   Frentzens, it was going to be the honeymoon they did not take before their
   three children were born.
   
   
   
   Forensic experts examine the debris of the Air France Concorde at the crash
   site near Paris
   
   
   

 * Concorde pilot Christian Marty, 54, who qualified as a Concorde pilot a year
   ago. "He was a great professional, who was able to see the wider situation
   and who had an enormous capacity to analyse a problem clearly," said French
   accident investigator, François Grange.
   
   "He was not someone who would allow himself to be influenced unduly or who
   would have had a knee-jerk reaction to a problem."
   
   

 * AF4590 co-pilot Jean Marcot broke the round-the-world flying record in
   Concorde in 1992 in 33 hours one minute.

Saved by a cardiac arrest

Others stories from the tragedy also include news of people who escaped death.



Actor Guenter Pfitzman: a heart attack saved him


A prominent Berlin actor, Guenter Pfitzmann, was booked aboard the plane but
cancelled at the last moment because of heart problems.



Herr Pfitzmann, 76, is known in Germany for starring in the medical drama The
Buelowbogen Practice.

"It is terrible to think that we might have been aboard that plane," his wife
said. "Our hearts go out to the families of the dead."

Another 33 German passengers booked on the same cruise escaped death. Because of
the limited seating aboard the Concorde, they were sent to New York on another
supersonic flight before the accident.





Return to the skies?
The safety changes
A supersonic future?
The PR offensive
The commercial case

The investigation
What went wrong?
The crew's last words
Tyre problems
Q&A: Crucial questions

The crash
Countdown to catastrophe
Crash eyewitness
In pictures


INTERACTIVE GUIDE

How Concorde crashed


TALKING POINT

Can Concorde regain its status?


FORUM

Concorde pilot quizzed


FROM THE ARCHIVE

Full special report (July 2000)


AUDIO VIDEO

Concorde since the crash - BBC coverage


See also:


31 Jul 00 | Europe
Concorde talks amid safety scares

27 Jul 00 | Europe
Germany in grief

29 Jul 00 | Europe
Flashback: 'My Concorde tyre drama'

Internet links:


Aviation Safety Network
Air France
Unofficial Concorde homepage
Heathrow Airport
British Airways - Concorde

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

Top Europe stories now:


Prominent Kosovo suspect held

Turkey ups stakes on US troops

'New Europe' backs EU on Iraq

Omagh detectives make arrest

Beckham forgives Ferguson

Blair keeps euro options open

Waiter jailed for underage sex

Democratic test for Armenia

Links to more Europe stories are at the foot of the page.




E-mail this story to a friend


Links to more Europe stories

In This Section Prominent Kosovo suspect held Turkey ups stakes on US troops
'New Europe' backs EU on Iraq Omagh detectives make arrest Beckham forgives
Ferguson Blair keeps euro options open Waiter jailed for underage sex Democratic
test for Armenia Alinghi take Cup stranglehold New Cypriot leader 'eager' for
talks


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