Name: 2009 Air France crash: French appeals trial nears verdict
Uploaded: 2025-11-27T17:57:21.535Z
Duration: 2 min 10 s
Description: An eight-week trial in Paris is concluding over the 2009 Air France crash that killed all 228 on board, as prosecutors urge the appeals court to overturn a lower court’s decision that cleared Air France and Airbus of corporate manslaughter. Investigators found that pilots mishandled a sensor icing issue, causing the A330 to stall and crash into the Atlantic during a tropical storm.

An eight-week trial in Paris is concluding over the 2009 Air France crash that killed all 228 on board, as prosecutors urge the appeals court to overturn a lower court’s decision that cleared Air France and Airbus of corporate manslaughter. Investigators found that pilots mishandled a sensor icing issue, causing the A330 to stall and crash into the Atlantic during a tropical storm.

Paris

A French appeals court is set to rule on the responsibility of Air France and Airbus in the 2009 crash of Flight 447, which resulted in the deaths of all 228 people on board. The crash was attributed to defective pitot tubes that caused the pilots to misread a high-altitude emergency after the autopilot disengaged.

In a 2023 trial, both companies were acquitted despite the court acknowledging serious errors, as causality could not be proven. The families of the victims appealed, arguing the companies were aware of the faulty equipment. The public prosecutor has now recommended a guilty verdict, emphasizing the reputational impact and the significance for the victims' families.

2009 Air France crash: French appeals trial nears verdict

It is a tragedy that struck 16 years ago on the night of June 1st, 2009. A few hours after takeoff from Rio en route to Paris, Air France flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. All 216 passengers and 12 crew members died instantly, making it the worst crash in Air France's history. In the days that followed, the first bodies were found, but it took two more years to locate the wreckage. At a depth of nearly 4,000 metres below sea level, the remains of the dead and the flight recorders were finally recovered. Analysis of those black boxes showed that the accident was caused by defective pitot tubes, which measure the speed of the plane. They'd been blocked with ice crystals and malfunctioned. This led the three pilots on board to misread the high-altitude emergency. With autopilot shut off, they accidentally crashed the plane. Airbus and Air France were accused of corporate manslaughter. And in that 2023 case, the court said that both the airline and the manufacturer made grave mistakes. But it said it could not prove causality. Or that such negligence and errors, like insufficient training or not replacing the particularly faulty tubes, directly caused the crash. Air France and Airbus were acquitted. For families, it was a hard blow. In their appeal, they maintain that the companies knew of the issue and kept quiet about it. And that the crash, as the companies argue, was not due solely to pilot error. When a human has to take back control, that pilot is completely unprepared. In reality, it's the entire machine and automation that are also to blame. And in fact, Airbus has reviewed all of this since the tragedy because they also understand their own responsibility. The fact is that these incidents no longer occur today. With the appeal, the public prosecutor has now recommended a guilty verdict. Saying that while the $225,000 maximum fine may be financially insignificant for the corporations, it carries a reputational weight, let alone a vindication for the victims' families in what is, for them, a 16-year fight for justice.

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