On Thursday, a Paris appeals court found Air France and Airbus guilty of manslaughter over the crash of Flight AF447, which killed 228 people in 2009. Both companies will have to pay the maximum fine, but the victims' relatives consider this punishment to be symbolic.
The verdict families have been waiting for: details of the court's decision
Air France and Airbus officially recognised as «solely and fully responsible» for the tragedy flight AF447, which crashed over the Atlantic Ocean during a storm on its way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. Thursday's court hearing was the culmination of an eight-week trial, with judges ruling that the companies' actions led to the worst air disaster in French aviation history. All 228 people on board - 216 passengers and 12 crew members - died when the plane crashed into the sea from an altitude of 11,580 metres. Among the victims were citizens of 33 countries, including 61 French, 58 Brazilians, 26 Germans, as well as children and celebrities such as the Brazilian prince Pedro Luis de Orleans e Bragança and three Irish doctors. The search for the wreckage lasted for months: the recorders were recovered only in 2011. Although the companies were acquitted in April 2023, this time the court handed down the maximum fine of €225,000 to each. Relatives of the victims gathered in the courtroom to hear the verdict. Daniel Lamy, president of the AF447 victims« association, who lost her son, called the decision »a recognition of the pain of the families who have experienced a collective tragedy of incredible cruelty".
Causes of the disaster and companies' response
A French investigation in 2012 concluded that the crash was caused by a combination of technical failures in the speed sensors and an incorrect reaction by the crew. The pilots were disoriented by the false readings and, as the aircraft was stalling, mistakenly raised the nose even higher instead of lowering it. After the tragedy, the sensors were replaced and pilot training was enhanced. Air France and Airbus have repeatedly denied their guilt and announced their intention to appeal the verdict. At the same time, prosecutors sharply criticised their position in November, calling the companies« behaviour »unacceptable« and accusing them of »empty talk and fictitious arguments«. Despite the high-profile verdict, some of the victims» families called the fines symbolic and insufficient. In memory of the victims, a memorial with 228 swallows and the inscription "In Memory" in twenty languages was erected in Paris. For many families, this tragedy left a deep wound: some were able to bury their loved ones only years after the disaster.
