Airbus, Air France acquitted
Apr 18, 2023
Paris [France], April 18: France's national carrier and planemaker Airbus were acquitted of involuntary manslaughter on Monday in the deaths of 228 people killed when an Air France jet plunged into the sea as it flew from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in 2009.
Although the two firms had acted carelessly in part, there was no causality linking them to the accident, presiding judge Sylvie Daunis said. Air France and Airbus had denied responsibility for the crash and demanded an acquittal. The prosecution also said in its closing arguments that it could not demand a conviction. After stalling, everyone on board died when the storm-tossed plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009. It took two years to recover the bodies and cockpit recorders located on the ocean floor at about 4,000 metres.
Investigators determined that the crew had become overwhelmed after the Airbus A330's Pitot speed-monitoring tubes iced up and no longer provided clear readings. The crash was the deadliest in Air France's history. The nine-week trial in Paris followed years of a legal tug-of-war. In 2019, investigating judges dismissed a case, and it was not until last year that an appeal court ordered the trial against the companies.(DPA)
Source: Qatar Tribune
