Airbus founding father Roger Béteille passes away aged 97

Roger Béteille, one of the founders of Airbus, has passed away aged 97. Béteille, who not only shaped Airbus’ first commercial aircraft – the A300B – but also Airbus Industrie, was born in Aveyron, France, in 1921. He studied at Supaéro in Toulouse before joining France’s SNCASE, which later became Sud Aviation, in 1943, receiving his pilot’s licence in 1945, becoming thereafter flight test engineer in 1952. In July 1967, the idea to develop a 300-seater all new wide-body twinjet was progressing with Béteille appointed chief engineer for the A300 programme at Sud Aviation. The following year, Béteille started work