Air France, Airbus found guilty of manslaughter 17 years after flight 447 crash
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Air France, Airbus found guilty of manslaughter 17 years after flight 447 crash")
Air France, Airbus found guilty of manslaughter 17 years after flight 447 crash Photograph: (Credit: AFP)
In a landmark reversal, a Paris appeals court finds Air France and Airbus guilty of corporate manslaughter over the 2009 Flight AF447 crash that killed 228 people.
The Paris Appeals Court found Air France and Airbus guilty of manslaughter on Thursday (May 21) over a 2009 plane crash which claimed 228 lives. Flight AF447 between Rio de Janeiro and Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. The court ruled that the French flag carrier and Europe's leading aerospace manufacturer were "solely and entirely responsible," ordering each to pay 225,000 euros ($261,000), the maximum fine for corporate manslaughter.
On June 1, 2009, Flight AF447, travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, was cruising over the Atlantic when the pilots lost control of the aircraft, causing it to plunge into the ocean. There were no survivors among the 216 passengers and 12 crew on board the Airbus A330 aircraft, the dead including 72 French nationals and 58 Brazilians.
The court heard how a malfunction with pitot tubes used to measure flight speed, which became blocked with ice crystals during a mid-Atlantic storm, caused alarms to sound in the cockpit and the autopilot system to switch off. Lawyers for the families argued that both companies were aware of the problem with the tubes and that pilots had not been adequately trained to handle such a high-altitude emergency.
The ruling overturns a previous acquittal. In 2023, a lower court had cleared both companies, which repeatedly denied the charges. Under the French system, the appeals proceedings involved a completely new trial with evidence reviewed from scratch.
Trending Stories
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
The maximum fines, amounting to just a few minutes of either company's revenue, have been widely dismissed as a token penalty. But family groups said a conviction would represent a recognition of their plight. French lawyers have predicted further appeals to the country's highest court, potentially dragging the process out for years more and prolonging the ordeal for relatives.
