Paul Andreu, the architect who designed terminal 2E at Charles de Gaulle airport, is flying back to Paris today to help with the investigation into how part of it collapsed, killing four people. Charles Bremner, left, reports from Paris.

Is M Andreu well respected in France?

He is one of the best-known airport architects in the world and one of a team that designed the original terminal building at Charles de Gaulle in 1974. The building was regarded as very cutting edge at the time.

He has also designed terminals at airports including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Hiroshima, Manila and Brunei, as well as Toulon and Nice. He was working on a new national theatre in Beijing when the news of the accident reached him.

M Andreu specialises in a light, airy style of architecture and uses modern materials such as glass, steel and concrete. Terminal 2E, which cost €750 million (£503m) was typical of his designs, consisting of two long, sleek curving halls linked by a central passageway.

The design is very French – and also very fashionable. A number of the new TGV rail stations have also been built in a very similar style.

How will the judicial inquiry proceed?

There is no suggestion this morning that M Andreu is under suspicion for the fatal collapse. It is, after all, the civil engineers who are responsible for making the construction of his designs work.

The judicial inquiry announced by President Chirac yesterday will instead proceed slowly and pursue all lines of inquiry, including possible design flaws or oversights in construction.

We should not expect any conclusions for months, perhaps even years. There were as many as 400 different sub-contracted companies involved in the terminal's construction, which was only completed in June last year. All may have to be questioned.

Criminal charges are not certain at this stage. The launching of a judicial inquiry to examine the possibility of involuntary manslaughter is the standard response to such an accident.

Similar inquiries were launched after the Concorde crash in August 2000, and after the deaths of 13 people when a gangway collapsed on the almost-completed Queen Mary 2 last November.

Why was the building's construction rushed?

A union whose workers were involved in the construction complained that the job was being rushed because the terminal was due to open in time for last year's summer holidays.

Not unusually, the construction of the terminal, built for long-haul flights from Air France and its five commercial partners, fell behind schedule and the opening was delayed further when light fittings fell from the roof during a safety inspection. Only time will tell whether corners were cut.

Is this a blow to French prestige?

It is a massive blow, particularly if the entire terminal has to be demolished, as the president of Aeroports de Paris (ADP), which runs the airport, suggested today.

Terminal 2E was the showcase terminal at France's premier airport. The Government had ambitious plans to turn Charles de Gaulle, otherwise known as Roissy, into Europe's main airport hub. Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the Prime Minister, is due to visit later today.

ADP and Air France, which are still state-run companies, saw the terminal expanding to take as many as ten million passengers each year and it would have had space for the massive new Airbus A380.

It is the only airport in western Europe that has the neighbouring space to expand to keep up with the predicted rapid growth in the airline industry. It has been 30 years since a major new runway has been built in the South East of England.

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