Ten years have passed from the tragedy of Air France Concorde, where 113 people died. Now the trial begins in Paris to determine if the Continental Airline technicians are guilty.

The supersonic jet had taken off from Charles de Gaulle airport on 25 July 2000, when a ball of fire occurred in one of its wings. A few seconds later it crashed near the air terminal.

The accident killed 113 people, 97 of them were Germans who traveled to New York to embark on a cruise.

French prosecutors argued that a 17-inch scrap of metal on the runway caused the crash. A Continental Airlines DC-10 shed the titanium “wear strip” on the runway four minutes before takeoff, they said. This acted as a “razor blade”, gashing the Concorde’s tyre and showering pieces of rubber into the fuel tanks, which caused a fire.

The airline and two of its US employees are charged with involuntary homicide. Their lawyer, Olivier Metzner, said: “I am here to establish that Continental Airlines is not responsible for the accident. I question the independence of the investigators. They wanted to protect Concorde, the image if gave of France.”

Only some of the victims’ families will be represented at the hearings, as most took compensation from Air France after the crash in return for not taking legal action.

Stephane Gicquel of Fenvac, a French federation representing the interests of the families of crew members, said relatives would watch the trial with great interest.

“This tragedy is part of their personal history and of their family history,” Mr Gicquel told the BBC.

The disaster was the only crash ever to involve a Concorde supersonic airliner.

Air France and British Airways retired their Concorde fleets in 2003.