French court finds Airbus, Air France guilty of manslaughter in 2009 crash

Airbus says it plans to appeal the ruling, which overturned a 2023 acquittal of both companies.A French appeals court has found Airbus and France" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="17" data-entity-type="organization">Air France guilty of manslaughter in 2009 Paris-crash" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="131569" data-entity-type="event">Rio de Janeiro-Paris crash that killed 228 people – the worst aviation disaster in the country’s history.The Paris-court-of-appeal" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="131570" data-entity-type="organization">Paris Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday that both companies were “solely and entirely responsible for the crash of Flight AF447”, and ordered a payment of 225,000 euros ($261,720) for each passenger, the maximum fine possible for corporate manslaughter.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 414 killed in South Sudan plane crash near capital Jubalist 2 of 4A small plane crashes into building in Brazil, killing threelist 3 of 4One dead in US after being struck by taking off Frontier Airlines planelist 4 of 4US Air Force rescues 11 after plane crashes into waters off Florida coastend of listAlthough the penalties are largely symbolic, they capped an eight-week trial that victims’ families saw as a last chance to find justice two years after a lower court acquitted Airbus and France" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="17" data-entity-type="organization">Air France.Both companies have repeatedly denied all charges.Following the ruling, Airbus said it would appeal to France’s highest court, saying the latest finding contradicted submissions from prosecutors and the 2023 acquittal.Prosecutors previously warned that an appeal was likely and denounced the companies’ behaviour throughout the decade-plus legal process.“Nothing has come of it – not a single word of sincere comfort,” said prosecutor Rodolphe Juy-Birmann as the trial was under way last November. “One word sums up this whole circus: indecency.”Divers recover the tail section from the France" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="17" data-entity-type="organization">Air France A330 that crashed into the South Atlantic while flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1, 2009 [File: Brazilian navy/AFP]Sensor malfunctionThe crash unfolded on June 1, 2009, when Flight AF447 disappeared from radar screens as it headed from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to the French capital Paris with 216 passengers and 12 crew.