PARIS — A French appeals court on Thursday delivered a verdict against Airbus and Air France over France’s worst air disaster, ruling that the companies were guilty of corporate manslaughter in a 2009 plane crash off Brazil.
The verdict is the latest milestone in a legal marathon involving two of France’s most emblematic companies and relatives of the mainly French, Brazilian and German victims.
The Paris Court of Appeal said that the French flag carrier and Europe’s leading aerospace manufacturer were “solely and entirely responsible” for the crash.
It ordered the companies to pay the maximum fine of €225,000 ($260,971) each, but some of the victims’ families have criticized the amount as a token penalty. While the amount is symbolic, it damages the reputation of both companies significantly.
The court found the airline and aircraft manufacturer guilty of corporate manslaughter over the incident, in which flight AF447 between Rio de Janeiro and Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.
The passenger jet stalled during a storm and plunged into the water, killing all 228 people on board.
A court had previously cleared the companies in April 2023 but they were found guilty after this appeal.
The Airbus A330 vanished from radars during a storm, with its wreckage found after a long search of 10,000 sq km (3,860 sq miles) of sea floor.
The black box was found after months of deep-sea searches in 2011.
All 12 crew members and 216 passengers on board the flight were killed when the plane crashed into the sea from a height of 38,000ft (11,580m), making it the deadliest incident in French aviation history.
Relatives of some of the passengers, which included mainly French, Brazilian and German nationals, gathered to hear the verdict on Wednesday.
During their closing arguments in November, the deputy prosecutors said the companies’ behaviour had been “unacceptable”, accusing them of “spouting nonsense and pulling arguments out of thin air”.
Both Airbus and Air France had repeatedly denied the charges, and French lawyers believe they are likely to launch further appeals.
Source: Saudi Gazette