1.

GV Fighter plane that guided airliner down with in background

0.06



2.

SV PAN & CU Broken off left wing (2 shots)

0.18



3.

GV Broken-off wing PAN to tail-end of plane, dented

0.24



4.

GV Wing intact PAN to officials looking at damaged wing

0.32



5.

GV Paris airport

0.35



6.

GV & SV Departure lounge

0.42



7.

GV Grounded aircraft (3 shots)

0.51



8.

GV ZOOM IN, control tower

0.56







Initials ES.1800 ES.1810







Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved



Background: Investigators have been examining the smashed wing of a Coronado jet which landed safely on Monday after being in collision with a Spanish Iberian Airlines DC-9. the 68 people on board the DC-9 died as the jet exploded and crashed near Nantes in north-western France.



The Coronado was escorted in by a military fighter and made an emergency landing. A six-foot section of its wingtip is missing and there is a large gouge in the tail.



This is the first film available of the Coronado on the ground.



The mystery of the air collision is further clouded by the discovery of green paint streaks on the body of the crashed DC-9. Neither of the planes in the collision have green paint.



Early speculation was that a military jet was involved, but the French Air Force denies it.



The investigation of the crash takes place under an almost deserted sky as many of the world's airlines have re-routed their flights around French air space. The International Airline Pilots Association called for a boycott of French airports because air control is being handled by military personnel.



Almost two weeks ago, the French government ordered military air controllers to take over work normally done by civilian controllers -- a majority of whom are on strike.



Since the crash, charges and counter-charges have been made about the ability of military controllers to maintain civilian air safety. But on Tuesday (March 6) the French Transport Minister Robert Galley declared that pilot error and not faulty control work was the case of the mid-air collision.



SYNOPSIS: At the Cognac military airfield, the jetliner damaged in Monday's mid-air collision in France sits near the jet fighter that escorted it to an emergency landing. Investigators are examining its smashed wing, shorn off in a collision with on Iberian DC-9 that then crashed, killing its sixty-eight passengers and crew.



In the crash aftermath, French airports are nearly empty. International airlines are re-routing flights around France and the International Pilots Organisation has asked its members to boycott French airports.



Most aircraft are grounded. The pilots organisation has charged the collision resulted from faulty control by military staff replacing striking civilian air-traffic controllers. The French Government has denied the charge.