A French appeals court has found Air France and Airbus guilty of manslaughter over the 2009 crash of Flight AF447, which killed all 228 people on board.
The ruling overturns an earlier decision in April 2023 that cleared both companies of criminal responsibility in one of the deadliest aviation disasters in French history.
Flight AF447, an Airbus A330 travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, disappeared from radar during a storm on June 1, 2009, before crashing into the Atlantic Ocean.
All 216 passengers and 12 crew members died after the aircraft stalled and plunged into the sea from an altitude of about 38,000 feet.
The wreckage was discovered following an extensive search operation covering thousands of square kilometres of the Atlantic Ocean floor, while the aircraft’s black box was eventually recovered in 2011 after months of deep-sea investigations.
Relatives of victims gathered in Paris on Thursday to hear the verdict delivered by the appeals court.
The court ordered both Air France and Airbus to pay the maximum corporate fine of €225,000 each. However, some families of the victims criticized the penalties as inadequate considering the scale of the tragedy.
During proceedings, prosecutors accused the companies of unacceptable conduct and argued that failures linked to training, technical systems and operational procedures contributed to the disaster.
Lawyers for both companies had denied wrongdoing throughout the legal process and are expected to pursue further appeals against the ruling.
The crash triggered major changes in global aviation safety procedures, including improvements in pilot training and aircraft monitoring systems related to high-altitude flight and sensor failures during severe weather conditions.
Victims of the crash included nationals from several countries, mainly France, Brazil and Germany.
The tragedy remains one of the most devastating aviation accidents involving a French carrier.
Source: BBC
