On Wednesday (26), the French Public Prosecutor’s Office requested that the European manufacturer Airbus and the airline Air France be found guilty of manslaughter after the 2009 Rio-Paris flight accident and were acquitted in the first degree.
“We ask for the annulment of the judgment that acquitted the accused, and therefore, Madam President, we ask you to dictate a conviction for manslaughter,” the two prosecutors declared in their plea, describing the line of defense of the two companies during the trial at the Paris Court of Appeal as “immodest.”
Airbus and Air France were first acquitted on April 17, 2023 in the case of the Rio-Paris flight AF447 accident, in which 228 people died, and can only be sentenced to a maximum fine of 225 thousand euros (1.42 million Brazilian reais).
Freezing probes
Air France has been accused of not providing proper training to pilots in situations involving freezing of the pitot sensors, which measure the plane’s speed, outside, and of not adequately informing its crews, an allegation the airline has always denied.
In the appeal trial that began in September, the airline said it would continue to prove “that it did not commit any crime that caused this accident,” according to a statement sent to AFP.
Airbus is accused of underestimating the risk of failure of blood pressure sensors and not taking all necessary measures to urgently inform the airlines that used them, something the European aircraft manufacturer also denies.
The company stated, in a statement on the eve of the start of the trial, that it would fully cooperate with the appeal trial with the aim of “better clarifying the causes of this tragic accident, in line with the company’s full commitment to aviation safety.”