PARIS, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The Paris Court of Appeal on Thursday found Air France and Airbus guilty of manslaughter in the 2009 crash of flight AF447, which killed all 228 people on board.
The court held the two companies "solely and entirely responsible" for the deadliest disaster in French aviation history and ordered each to pay the maximum statutory fine of 225,000 euros (260,885 U.S. dollars).
According to the court's verdict, aircraft manufacturer Airbus underestimated the risks linked to the failures of the aircraft's airspeed sensor and failed to take necessary steps to warn airlines. Meanwhile, the carrier Air France failed to implement adequate pilot training for handling sensor dysfunction scenarios and did not sufficiently inform flight crews.
Both companies had previously been acquitted of criminal charges during a lower-court trial in 2023. Though the penalties handed down on appeal were largely "symbolic," the conviction dealt a significant blow to the reputations of both aviation giants.
On May 31, 2009, flight AF447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean hours after departing Rio de Janeiro for Paris. Investigators said icing of the plane's external speed-measuring sensors, known as Pitot tubes, was the catalyst for the tragedy. ■