The Paris Court on Monday acquitted Airbus and Air France of involuntary manslaughter for the 2009 Paris-Rio de Janeiro flight incident, in which 228 people died after the plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, according to local media such as ‘Le Figaro’ or ‘Le Monde’, as reported by Europa Press.
The judge listed several acts of negligence on the part of both companies, but affirmed that »they did not reach the necessary certainty to establish a firm responsibility» for the French incident.
During the trial, which was held from October 10 to December 8, the prosecution asked for acquittal, considering that the guilt of the companies was »impossible to prove».
The verdict followed the first trial held in France for involuntary manslaughter of a company, for which the maximum fine is 225,000 euros.
For the court, Airbus committed four recklessness or negligence, in particular, not having replaced the model of Pitot probes called »AA», which seemed to freeze more often, on the A330-A340 fleet, and the fact of having demonstrated »concealment of information» from the companies.
For his part, the judge noted that Air France committed two »culpable imprudences», related to the way in which an information note about the failure of the probes was sent to its pilots.
THE WORST AERIAL TRAGEDY IN FRANCE All 228 people, 216 passengers and 12 crew members, on board died after the plane was hit by a storm and fell into the Atlantic Ocean in the early hours of June 1, 2009.
On board the A330 registered as F-GZCP were people of 33 nationalities, including 72 French and 58 Brazilian nationals. It took two years to recover the bodies and the black boxes from the cockpit, located at a depth of about 4,000 meters.
Investigators determined that the crew was overwhelmed after the Airbus A330’s Pitot speed control tubes froze and no longer provided clear readings. The accident was the deadliest in Air France’s history.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
