A French appeals court has ruled that European aerospace giant, Airbus, and airline, Air France, are guilty of corporate manslaughter over the 2009 crash of Flight AF447, which claimed 228 lives.
The ruling, delivered on Thursday by the Paris Appeals Court, overturned a 2023 decision that had cleared both companies of wrongdoing in the disaster.
Flight AF447, operated by Air France, was travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1, 2009, when it stalled during a storm and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, marking France’s deadliest aviation tragedy.
The aircraft’s black boxes were recovered in 2011 after extensive deep-sea search operations.
Following the verdict, both companies were ordered to pay up to $261,720 each to victims’ families, a compensation some relatives described as a “token penalty”.
In response, Airbus said it acknowledged the judgment but would appeal to France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, insisting the ruling contradicts earlier legal findings.
