Landing gear of an Air France Boeing 777
The two companies were considered “solely and entirely responsible” for the tragedy, the worst in the history of French aviation, and will have to pay the maximum fine provided for legal entities. The decision is mainly symbolic, but with a strong reputational impact.
The Paris Court of Appeal considered this Thursday the Air France ea Airbus guilty of involuntary homicide by the disaster, in 2009, of the Rio-Paris flight, which caused death of 228 people — the worst tragedy in the history of French aviation.
The court ruled that the French flag carrier and leading European aerospace manufacturer were “solely and entirely responsible for the crash of flight AF447”, and ordered each of the companies to pay 225 thousand euros — the maximum fine provided for negligent homicide committed by a legal entity.
Although sanctions are symbolicthe decision should be seen as a significant blow to the reputation of both companies.
On June 1, 2009, Air France flight AF447, which was heading from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, was crossing the Atlantic when the pilots lost control of the aircraft, causing it to crash into the ocean.
There were no survivors among the 216 passengers and the 12 crew members on board the A330 built by Airbus. Among the fatalities were 72 French citizens and 58 Brazilians.
Companies, which denied any criminal responsibility and attributed the accident to, had been of first instance in 2023.
This decision was a severe blow to the familys of the victims, who said they outraged by the acquittal of companies.
Although, at the time, the Public Prosecutor’s Office had asked for the charges to be dropped, later ended up filing an appeal to allow “the full potential of the appeals process” to be exhausted. The judgment on appeal lasted for eight weeks, between September and December last year.
“Indecency”
In November, the prosecutor Rodolphe Juy-Birmann harshly criticized the behavior of Air France and Airbus over the years. “Nothing came of it — not a single word of sincere comfort“, he stated. “It’s an armored defense. There is One word that sums up this whole circus: indecency”.
Lawyers for the victims’ families argued that both companies were aware of the problem in the tubes used to measure flight speed, and that the pilots had not received training to deal with such a high-altitude emergency.
The court heard how a failure in the tubes, blocked by ice crystals during a mid-Atlantic storm, triggered alarms in the plane’s cockpit and led to the autopilot being disengaged.
The experts highlighted that, after the instruments failed, the pilots put the plane in climb, which caused the aircraft to lose support andthen, the fall into the ocean.
In the decision announced this Thursday, the two companies were considered guilty of all charges.
Or court criticized Airbus for having underestimated the severity problems with the sensors and for not having properly informed the crews of the operating airlines.
A Air France was found guilty of not providing training to the pilots adapted to situations of ice formation in the Pitot tubes and for not having adequately informed the crews.
In October, Christophe Kylewho represented Airbus, stated in court that the company had a ‘zero accidents’ policy. “Even the smallest accident is a failure for our entire community,” he said.
Pascal Weila representative of Air France, admitted at the time that the company “had the means to carry out high-altitude training, but we didn’t do it because we sincerely believed it was unnecessary”.
Airbus has already announced, this Thursday, that it will appeal the judicial decision now taken by the Parisian court. The company’s lawyer, Simon Ndiayecriticized the conviction, stating that it “responds to considerations that have nothing to do with justice, law or security“.
Os Victims’ families praised the court’s decisionstating that the two companies They can no longer hide behind their “technological pride”.
“Finally, the judicial system is taking into account the pain of families who face a collective tragedy of unbearable brutality,” he said. Daniele Lamyhead of an association of victims’ families.
