Posted on 05/27/2004 12:57:04 PM PDT by mountaineer
Aeroports de Paris (ADP), the state authority in charge of Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport have removed all mention of the tragedy-struck Terminal 2E from their website within a day of the disaster. see www.adp.fr The authority's website has no news of the disaster but what is extraordinary is their revision of maps of the airport to make it look as if there never was a 2E.
At left the upper of the two maps is the ADP map which for Terminal 2 shows halls A, B, C, D, and F. But no E! It is still shown clearly in the bottom righthand corner of the lower map which is from the World Airports Guide.
The Soviets redid the photographs of officials on the reviewers stand of past May Day parades whenever Stalin had one of his former close colleagues shot. But they were never as quick as this to rewrite history.
As for the article, more evidence of French madness....
We, we returned 5/14 - fortunately, didn't go anywhere near the now-collapsed terminal. We had a great trip, the people were quite nice - but their government stinks!
Next up: remove all records of vaunted Maginot Line.
In the future, we should just start saying "Franco-Soviet style."
Maybe if we removed France from our maps, France will disappear.
There's something vaguely redundant about that, isn't there?
Excellant idea!
Weren't you going to pretend to be Canadian??? That might account for that niceness....
Remember that Terminal E was built after F, so four more than five years, the maps did not show E. They just restored the old maps....
As I may have mentioned, we went to track our relatives who served in WWI. It was interesting that all three were mustard-gassed in the Meuse-Argonne - the same deadly weapon we're finding in Iraq. Plus ca change, and all that!
I agree, but as the article notes, the website doesn't even mention that terminal E now est mort. It's as though it never existed.
This is actually a problem in the states as well. We have a lot of govt. agency info that is now web-enabled. As the web sites change, the old sites/info are often not archived. We are losing a lot of info upon which people depend. Further, most people in charge of govt web sites are not information professionals, but web designers, with no understanding of the need for archiving, provenance, veracity, legal requirements, etc.
I know a lot of FReepers think losing govt info might be a good thing, but it isn't. We are losing our history as well.
Sorry for the rant. I'm getting a PhD in information science and information policy is one of my interests. It just kills me when I see organizations do what the Paris airport authority is doing.
Ah, the French. If you can rewrite history, why wait until it's history? That's what they call being 'progressive'.
I think they've managed to nip it in the bud before it actually became history! With any luck, we'll forget there ever was a terminal E, and this messy business will be behind us forever.
While filming a documentary about the Russian Revolution, one of those involved noticed there was a plenty of information about Lenin but Trotsky was conspicuous by his absence. He questioned when they would receive the Trotsky documents. The others on the set smile and shook their heads as the head writer explained, "there can only be one Sun in the Heavens".
So? Sounds like they don't plan to rebuild it so they corrected terminal maps to show what is actually there now and operational. It seems somewhat a stretch to compare this to how the Soviet's rewrote history. They did report in their news about the terminal disaster didn't they? I don't see a big dal with this.
More (excerpted):
The terminal building at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport that partly collapsed was showing signs of instability in the weeks before the disaster, airport staff members told Le Parisien on Wednesday.
.
Workers said two major pipe bursts had occurred in the same section of the departure area of Terminal 2E, which gave way Sunday, killing four people.
.
"Our main problem has been leaks. They have been everywhere for a year. Most of the toilets have had to shut for repair work," said a cleaner, who wished to remain anonymous.
.
"But two months ago there were two enormous leaks in two transfer lounges just underneath the area that collapsed. We had to pump the whole day and part of the night. Since then there was a distinct impression that the building was shifting.
.
"There was more dust falling from the ceiling, particles of cement, more dirt. We pointed it out on several occasions," the cleaner said.
.
A union representative, who also refused to give his name, told the paper, "We were indeed alerted to these cleaning problems - dust and particles falling from the ceiling."
.
"With hindsight," he added, "it's clear now that the building was moving over the last weeks."
.
Terminal 2E was opened less than a year ago at a cost of E750 million, or $900 million, and was handling about 20,000 passengers a day. The departure area consists of a tubular building about 650 meter long, about 710 feet. A 30-meter section fell away on Sunday.
.
The authorities have said the whole building may have to be demolished if investigations show that a design fault was the origin of the disaster. The terminal remained off limits to all but a few engineers and judicial experts on Wednesday. New fissures and cracking noises were noted Monday, prompting the evacuation of workers.
.
Speculation over the origin of the accident centers on faulty materials, poor workmanship or a possible design flaw.
.
Airport officials have confirmed that cracks appeared in an early stage of construction in pillars holding up the concrete structure, which then had to be strengthened. But they said this was in a separate area of the terminal.
.
It has also emerged that early in 2003 - shortly before the building's completion - 300 metal beams were added to increase stability.
.
Gilles de Robien, the transport minister, said he wanted an interim report on the accident next month. An inquiry into "involuntary homicide" will determine if criminal liability is involved.
.
Meanwhile, justice officials said that one of the four dead may never be identified because she was traveling under a stolen Czech passport. "We can assume she was Ukrainian because the plane ticket was bought in Kiev. But if this person was traveling in a clandestine manner, then we may never find out her nationality," an official said.
.
The woman was stopping in Paris from Kiev on her way to Miami. She was initially thought to be a Czech nurse whose name appeared on the passport, but she was found to be alive and well in Prague. Her passport was stolen in January 2003. ...
.
.
.
http://www.iht.com/articles/521937.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
