Air France and Airbus have been found guilty of corporate manslaughter over the 2009 crash of flight AF447, the Rio de Janeiro to Paris service that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean and killed all 228 people on board.
The Paris Court of Appeal delivered the verdict on Thursday, overturning a lower court ruling from April 2023 that had cleared both the airline and the aircraft manufacturer. The court ordered each company to pay the maximum fine of €225,000, a penalty criticised by some victims’ families as largely symbolic.
Flight AF447 disappeared on 1 June 2009 while flying through a storm over the Atlantic, more than 700 miles from the coast of South America. The Airbus A330 stalled and fell from cruising altitude into the ocean, in what remains the deadliest air disaster in French aviation history.
The crash killed 216 passengers and 12 crew members. Those on board came from 33 countries, with French, Brazilian and German nationals making up the largest groups. British, Irish and American passengers were also among the victims.
The verdict follows an eight-week appeal trial and a long legal battle by victims’ relatives. Prosecutors had argued that failures by both companies contributed to the disaster, including shortcomings linked to pilot training and previous problems involving air-speed sensors. Reuters reported that Airbus is expected to appeal to France’s highest court.
French investigators concluded in 2012 that the crash resulted from a combination of faulty air-speed readings and the crew’s failure to respond correctly when the aircraft stalled. The pilots, confused by unreliable speed data, raised the aircraft’s nose instead of lowering it to recover from the stall.
The wreckage was found only after an extensive deep-sea search, while the flight recorders were recovered in 2011, almost two years after the crash. In the first weeks of the recovery operation, 51 bodies were retrieved from the ocean.
Daniele Lamy, president of the AF447 victims’ association, welcomed the ruling, saying it showed that the justice system was finally recognising the suffering of families confronted with a collective tragedy.
Both Air France and Airbus have repeatedly denied criminal responsibility. The case has been closely watched in France and internationally because of its implications for aviation safety, corporate accountability and the legal responsibilities of airlines and manufacturers after major disasters.
Source: BBC
