In my estimation our clients should say yes

Ulrich Von Jeinson, lawyer

German lawyer Gerhardt Baum, who represents 55 families, said reports that an agreement had been signed were speculation, and the deal had not yet been done.

But Ulrich Von Jeinson, a lawyer representing 10 families, told the BBC they were recommending the Air France offer to their clients.

The crash killed 113 people near Paris in July last year

He described German press reports that a $135m deal had been agreed as "unrealistic", but declined to say whether the figure was too high or too low.

Asked if the package will be the largest in aviation history, Mr Jeinson gave no comment, but added: "In my estimation, our clients should say yes."

He said the families would make their decision known by the end of next week at the latest, possibly sooner, and he hoped the deal would be signed in May.

Huge potential damages

The relatives are allowed to file suits in the US - where potential damages awards are far greater than in Europe - because the flight was bound for New York, and several US companies were involved in the aircraft's construction.

Concorde has now been fitted with new tyres

Ninety-six German passengers on a charter flight to New York were killed when the Concorde caught fire and crashed during take-off from Charles de Gaulle airport.

Nine crew members and eight people on the ground also perished in the crash, which led to the grounding of all Concordes owned by Air France and British Airways.

On Tuesday, an Air France Concorde took to the skies over southern France for the latest series of tests aimed at allowing the supersonic airliner to return to service.

Investigators believe that a metal strip lying on the runway punctured one of Concorde's tyres, sending debris hurtling into the plane's fuel tanks, triggering a major leak and fire.

An Anglo-French working group reported encouraging results from tests of a new, specially designed Concorde tyre last week.

Engineers are also working on ways of protecting the planes' fuel tanks from punctures.