Air France and Airbus cleared of involuntary manslaughter over 2009 crash

Read More

A Paris court has cleared Air France and Airbus of involuntary manslaughter over the crash of flight 447 in 2009 that killed 228 people.

Giving its verdict on Monday, the court said if there had been faults committed, “no certain causal link” with the accident could be shown.

The Airbus A330 was travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris when it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean during a thunderstorm. Lawyers for passengers’ families had battled for years to address what they said were failings leading to the worst aviation disaster in Air France’s history.

The ruling followed a two-month trial last year, at the end of which the public prosecutors’ office had suggested it was impossible to prove that either company was to blame and suggested they be cleared.

A report by France’s air investigation authority had previously found that the failure of the Airbus’s speed sensors, called pitot tubes, which froze up during a storm over the Atlantic, had set off a catastrophic chain of events. The report said the Air France pilots lacked the training to deal with this situation.

skip past newsletter promotion

after newsletter promotion

More details soon …