A court in Paris convicted airline Air France and aircraft manufacturer Airbus of negligent homicide of 228 people. The conviction relates to the crash of flight AF447, which departed in 2009 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after encountering a storm.
All 228 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft were killed in the crash, which is considered the deadliest aviation disaster in France's history. The legal proceedings lasted 17 years and involved numerous legal twists.
In 2023, a court acquitted the two companies of responsibility for the disaster, but the victims' families appealed the decision. The plaintiffs alleged failings by Airbus and Air France, including inadequate training and failure to monitor similar previous incidents.
The Court of Appeal has now found the two companies responsible for the crash and convicted them of "corporate negligent homicide." The judges ruled that "the airline and the aircraft manufacturer are exclusively and fully responsible" for the disaster.
It was also ruled that Air France and Airbus must pay the maximum fine set for the offense of corporate negligent homicide, €225,000 each. The victims' families protested the size of the fine, which they said is merely symbolic, but said that "the conviction will be recognition of our distress."
Some of the victims' families said they intend to appeal again to the courts in order to seek an increase in compensation.