Air France, Airbus 'Entirely' Responsible for 2009 Crash

Air France and Airbus have been found "solely and entirely" responsible for the deadliest aviation incident in French history. A Paris appeals court on Thursday convicted both companies of corporate manslaughter over the 2009 crash of Flight AF447, which killed all 228 people on board, including 72 French nationals and 58 Brazilians, per AFP. The Rio-to-Paris Airbus A330 disappeared in a storm over the Atlantic on June 1, 2009, stalling at 38,000 feet before plunging into the ocean, reports the BBC. The wreckage was located only after an extensive search of nearly 4,000 square miles of sea floor; the flight recorders were recovered in 2011.

The ruling reverses an April 2023 acquittal amid the companies' claims of pilot error, and orders each company to pay the maximum fine of 225,000 euros (about $262,000), an amount some relatives dismissed as largely symbolic. During an eight-week trial that ended in December, prosecutors blasted the firms' conduct as "unacceptable," alleging they knew of issues with the plane's pitot tubes and failed to train pilots on emergency procedures, yet offered "not a single word of sincere comfort." Families of victims from France, Brazil, Germany, and other countries packed the courtroom for the decision, which is expected to prompt further appeals from both Air France and Airbus.