A Paris appeals court has found Airbus and Air France guilty of corporate manslaughter over the 2009 Rio-Paris plane crash that killed 228 passengers and crew. The verdict marks a significant milestone in a 17-year legal battle involving two of France's most prominent companies and the families of victims from 33 nationalities.
The court ordered each company to pay the maximum fine for corporate manslaughter, €225,000 (£194,500), following a request from prosecutors during the eight-week trial. In 2023, a lower court had cleared both companies, which have consistently denied the charges.
Relatives of some of those who died when the Airbus A330 vanished during an Atlantic storm gathered to hear the verdict. The maximum fines, amounting to just a few minutes of either company's revenue, have been widely dismissed as token penalties, but family groups said a conviction represents recognition of their plight.
Flight AF447 vanished from radar on 1 June 2009. The plane's black boxes were recovered two years later after a deep-sea search. In 2012, crash investigators found that the flight crew had pushed the jet into a stall after mishandling iced-up sensors. Prosecutors focused on alleged failures at the planemaker and airline, including poor training and failure to follow up on earlier incidents.
French lawyers have predicted further appeals to the country's highest court, potentially prolonging the ordeal for relatives. Under the French system, last year's appeal proceedings involved a completely new trial with evidence reviewed from scratch.
