French court finds Airbus, Air France guilty of manslaughter in 2009 crash

Article by Viory

AF447 Court Ruling

The families of victims of the AF447 crash celebrated a French appeals court ruling in Paris on Thursday that found Airbus and Air France guilty of corporate manslaughter over the 2009 disaster that killed 228 people.

“A very, very great relief and a little hard to believe,” said Ophelie Toulliou, a member of the victims’ families association Entraide et Solidarite AF447. “We […] are fully satisfied with this extremely well-crafted decision. […] I am proud of the justice system of my country.”

“17 years of legal battles,” emphasised Alain Jakubowicz, a lawyer for the victims’ families. “We have been by their side since day one. There will be a before and an after. I believe this is also a decision for everyone listening to and hearing us.”

Crash Investigation Details

In 2011, French safety investigators concluded – after recovering the black boxes from the ocean floor two years post-crash – that the pilots had reacted incorrectly to a temporary loss of airspeed readings caused by iced-over Pitot tubes, sending the aircraft into an aerodynamic stall.

However, family advocates have long argued the companies were responsible for the equipment failure and inadequate training.

“Today, the exoneration of the pilots is flawless. That means the judge was very clear, without any ambiguity,” said Teddy Robert, the brother of one of the pilots.

“We happily rediscover the professionalism of our relatives who held on until the end and fought to the bitter end to save this plane,” he stressed.

Company Response and Appeal

Meanwhile, Airbus lawyer Simon Ndiaye claimed the court’s ruling has ‘nothing to do with justice, the law or safety,’ adding that the company will appeal the decision to the Court of Cassation, France’s highest court.

“The Court of Appeal has just taken the opposite view of all the other magistrates who worked on this case, with a justification that is very weak factually and nonexistent legally,” Ndiaye stated.

Flight AF447 was en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris when it plunged into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, killing all 12 crew members and 216 passengers.

The French Court of Appeals decision overturned a 2023 lower court verdict that had acquitted both companies of involuntary manslaughter, citing insufficient evidence linking negligence to the disaster.

Article by Viory