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Air France and manufacturer Airbus have been found guilty of negligent homicide in the appeal case regarding the 2009 crash of a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in which all 228 people on board died.<\/p>\n
The Paris Court of Appeal on Thursday imposed a fine of \u20ac225,000 ($260,000) on each company, overturning an acquittal in the initial trial of the two firms.<\/p>\n
The court ruled that the French airline and the European aerospace giant were solely responsible for the crash and liable for damages. The fine imposed by the court is the maximum possible penalty.<\/p>\n
The Air France Airbus A330 jet on flight AF447 flew into a storm front on June 1, 2009 while en route from Brazil to the French capital. The Airbus A330 disappeared from radar screens as it plunged into the Atlantic Ocean. It is the deadliest accident in the airline’s history.<\/p>\n
People from 33 countries lost their lives in the accident, though most of the victims were from France and Brazil.<\/p>\n
It was not until May 2011 that the last bodies and the flight data recorder were recovered from a depth of around 4,000 metres.<\/p>\n
Airbus was accused of underestimating the consequences of failures involving the aircraft\u2019s speed sensors, known as pitot tubes, which iced over during the flight. Air France, meanwhile, was accused of failing to adequately train its pilots for such an extreme situation.<\/p>\n
At the end of her two-hour judgment, the presiding judge spoke of a \u201cdisaster waiting to happen\u201d that the influential aircraft manufacturer and the renowned airline could have prevented had they made risk anticipation a priority at the time. Some of the relatives in the courtroom embraced one another.<\/p>\n
An expert report published in 2012 concluded that the crew became overwhelmed by a situation that should in principle have been manageable.<\/p>\n
In the initial trial two years ago, both Air France and Airbus were acquitted of negligent homicide. The court at the time ruled that, although the companies may have acted negligently or imprudently in some respects, a direct causal link to the disaster could not be conclusively established.<\/p>\n
The ruling nevertheless criticized Airbus for failing to adequately follow up on previous incidents involving the sensors and for withholding information. Air France was also faulted for not sufficiently alerting pilots to potential problems with the sensors.<\/p>\n
In her remarks after Thursday’s ruling, the judge expressly defended the crew of the ill-fated flight. \u201cThey were experienced pilots who knew the route.\u201d<\/p>\n
The legal battle over the disaster has stretched on for years. Relatives of the victims had viewed the very decision to hold a trial in 2022 as a victory after investigating judges initially dismissed the case in 2019.<\/p>\n
Although many relatives have already been compensated, civil proceedings may now follow in the wake of the Paris ruling.<\/p>\n
Proceedings are set to begin as soon as possible, the presiding judge assured the relatives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n