A French appeals court has found aircraft manufacturer Airbus and airline Air France guilty of corporate manslaughter over the 2009 Rio-Paris crash, in a landmark ruling tied to one of the country’s deadliest aviation disasters.
The judgment marks a major moment in a 17-year legal battle over the crash of Flight AF447, which killed 228 people after the aircraft disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.
Families of victims welcomed the ruling outside the courtroom, describing it as long-awaited accountability for the tragedy.
“Justice has absolutely been done,” said Daniele Lamy, whose son was among those killed in the crash.
The case, which has moved through multiple stages of French courts over the years, centred on questions of technical failure, pilot response and corporate responsibility in the chain of events leading to the disaster.
Although the court delivered its guilty verdict, the long-running legal proceedings are expected to continue as further legal and procedural issues linked to the case remain unresolved.
Erizia Rubyjeana
