PARIS: Air France and Airbus returned to court on Monday for an appeals trial over the 2009 crash of Flight AF447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris that killed all 228 people on board.
The disaster remains the deadliest in Air France’s history, claiming 216 passengers and 12 crew members including 72 French and 58 Brazilian nationals.
Both companies were acquitted of involuntary manslaughter charges in 2023 when a Paris court ruled their mistakes could not be proven to have directly caused the crash.
Victims’ families expressed outrage at the original verdict, prompting prosecutors to lodge an appeal despite having initially requested the charges be dropped.
If convicted in the retrial, Air France and Airbus could each face fines of 225,000 euros alongside significant reputational damage.
The initial trial focused on faulty pitot tubes that measured flight speed and became blocked by ice crystals during a mid-Atlantic storm.
Technical evidence showed the instrument failure triggered cockpit alarms and disengaged the autopilot before pilots put the plane into a fatal climb.
Air France and Airbus maintained pilot error caused the stall and subsequent ocean crash, denying any criminal responsibility.
Family lawyers argued both companies knew about the pitot tube issues beforehand and failed to provide adequate high-altitude emergency training.
The 2023 court acknowledged Airbus committed four negligent acts including withholding information about problematic tubes from flight operators.
Judges also found Air France negligent in how it communicated technical information about the faulty equipment to its pilots.
Daniele Lamy, president of the victims’ association, described the original acquittal as disgusting and unacceptable to grieving families.
Flight recorders from the doomed aircraft were recovered nearly two years after the crash from 4,000 metres below sea level.
The appeals trial is scheduled to conclude on November 27 with a verdict expected later. – AFP