Air France and Airbus face Paris trial call over deadly crash – source

PARIS (Reuters) – The Paris public prosecutor has requested that Air France and Airbus stand trial on charges of manslaughter over the 2009 crash of flight AF447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, which killed all 228 people on board, a judicial source told Reuters.

An appeals court hearing to rule on the prosecutor’s request has been set for March 4 at 1200 GMT, the source added on Wednesday, confirming an earlier report by Le Parisien newspaper which was published on its website.

The Paris public prosecutor’s office and Airbus could not immediately be reached. Air France declined to comment. 

French judges in 2019 dropped charges against Air France and European plane manufacturer Airbus over the crash, saying the pilots had lost control of the plane.

French investigators found the crew of AF447 mishandled loss of speed readings from sensors blocked with ice from a storm, and caused the aircraft to stall by holding its nose too high.

Le Parisien reported that the Paris prosecutor now says there were “blameworthy infringements” on the part of Air France, notably in crew training, and says Airbus under-estimated the risks posed by ice on the sensors.

The newspaper did not say how it obtained the information. 

(Reporting by Bertrand Boucey and Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Mark Potter and Alexander Smith)

Photo – Air France Airbus A320 (F-GXKP) plane flight AF1235 taxies for the last departure to Paris at the Tegel airport (TXL) in Berlin, Germany, 08 November 2020. The international airport with a hexagonal design which opened in 1948, will close permanently for commercial flights with the last flight scheduled for 08 November. EPA-EFE/CLEMENS BILAN