Roissy, France
The roof of a new terminal at Charles de Gaulle airport, outside Paris, collapsed this week, killing four people. Security officers evacuated scores of travelers moments before tons of steel, concrete, and glass came crashing down. “They heard cracking and saw fissures in the roof and concrete dust falling,” said airport authority chairman Pierre Graff. The $890 million terminal—a futuristic tube honeycombed with square windows—was cheered as a masterpiece of design when it opened last year. It has gates for 17 aircraft and was expected to accommodate 10 million passengers a year. But other sections of the roof are now cracking, Graff said, and the terminal may have to be razed.
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