After 17 Years, Air France and Airbus Convicted in 2009 Rio-Paris Crash That Killed 228

A Paris appeals court has found Air France and Airbus guilty of corporate manslaughter for the 2009 crash of Flight AF447, which killed all 228 people on board in France’s deadliest aviation disaster. The verdict marks a turning point in a 17-year legal battle that has pitted grieving families against two of the country’s most powerful corporations.

Relatives of the victims—mostly French, Brazilian, and German—gathered in court to hear the decision. The judges imposed the maximum fine for corporate manslaughter: €225,000 (about £194,500) on each company, as prosecutors had requested during the eight-week trial. The penalty amounts to just a few minutes of revenue for Airbus or Air France, and many have dismissed it as symbolic. But family groups say the conviction itself is a long-awaited recognition of their loss.

In 2023, a lower court had cleared both companies, which have always denied responsibility. Thursday’s ruling overturns that decision and restarts a legal process that could now head to France’s highest court, potentially dragging on for years.

The Airbus A330 vanished from radar on June 1, 2009, during a storm over the Atlantic. The flight data recorders were recovered from the ocean floor two years later. Investigators from France’s BEA concluded that the crew had mishandled a problem with iced-over sensors, causing the plane to stall. Prosecutors, however, argued that both the airline and the manufacturer were negligent—Airbus for not adequately addressing known sensor issues, and Air France for poor pilot training.

Under French law, proving corporate manslaughter required showing not just negligence but a direct causal link to the crash. Thursday’s verdict established that link. Any further appeals will shift the focus from the cockpit to the finer points of the law.