A French court has found that Air France and Airbus are guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a 2009 plane crash in the Atlantic Ocean that killed 228 people on board.
The Paris Court of Appeal ruled the companies are solely and entirely responsible, citing failures to address known safety risks. Each company was fined the maximum legal penalty of 225,000 euros or about $260,000, and were also ordered to pay legal costs.
With the ruling, the Appeals Court overturned a 2023 decision by a lower court that had acquitted the airline and airplane manufacturer from the crash.
Responding to the verdict, Airbus said it plans to appeal the decision to France's highest court, The Court of Cassation, seeking a reexamination of the legal issues raised.
Air France also confirmed plans to appeal the ruling, noting that its criminal liability had already been dismissed twice in prior proceedings.
The airline said in a statement, "Air France honors the memory of the victims of this terrible accident and extends its deepest sympathy to all their loved ones."
On June 1, 2009, Air France Flight 447, which was traveling to Paris from Rio de Janeiro, caught in severe weather and disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean. The flight was carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew members.
The authorities could recover the airplane's black boxes two years after the accident. As per an investigation report in 2012, ice caused the plane's airspeed sensors to malfunction and the autopilot got disconnected.
The three pilots flying the Airbus A330 had struggled to regain control of the plane amid a barrage of alarms. The report indicated that the design of the warning system and the lack of required training the pilots received were the issues.
Before the appeals court, prosecutors argued that Airbus had underestimated the severity of certain equipment malfunctions and failed to provide required information to airlines about how pilots should handle such failures. They also argued that Air France had failed to train its crews adequately.
On the Paris Stock Exchange, Air France-KLM shares were gaining around 9 percent, trading at 10.18 euros, and Airbus shares were gaining 0.6% to 167.00 euros.
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