Airbus and Air France were found guilty of manslaughter in the 2009 crash between Rio and Paris
A French appeals court has found Airbus and Air France guilty of the crash between Rio and Paris in 2009. This ends a 17-year legal fight.
In a major decision about one of France’s deadliest aviation accidents, the 2009 Rio-Paris crash, an appeals court found both Airbus, the company that made the planes, and Air France, the airline, guilty of corporate manslaughter.
Flight AF447 crashed over the Atlantic Ocean on its way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, killing 228 people. The verdict is a major turning point in a 17-year legal fight over the crash.
Outside of court, families of the victims hailed the decision, saying it was long overdue accountability for the tragedy.
Daniele Lamy, whose son was one of the people killed in the crash, said, “Justice has been done.”
The case, which has gone through several levels of French courts over the years, was mostly about technical failure, the pilots’ reaction, and corporate responsibility in the events that led to the disaster.
Even though the court found the person guilty, the long-running legal proceedings are likely to continue because there are still legal and procedural problems that need to be resolved.
