Rio-Paris 2009 crash: Appeal trial against Air France and Airbus begins • FRANCE 24 English
On the 8th of June 2009, the Brazilian army found this trickle fragment of Airbus 330 in the Atlantic Ocean. A symbolic image from the worst crash in French aviation history. A few days earlier on the 1st of June 2009, Air France Flight 447 set off from Rio de Janeiro for Paris with 228 people on board. The plane hit a zone of turbulence in an area known to navigators as the doldrums. The plane crashed with no survivors. In the days following the accident, the first bodies were found, but it took two more years of searching before the plane’s wreckage was discovered at a depth of 3,900 m. 154 bodies were retrieved from the plane along with the black box flight recorders. Analysis of the recorders showed that the accident was caused by defective PTO tubes. Instruments which measure the speed of the plane that malfunctioned after becoming blocked with ice crystals. In 2023, Airbus and Air France were accused of corporate manslaughter. The companies denied responsibility, placing blame on the pilots. We are here to share our compassion as I said but also our contribution to the truth to understand and to do everything in our power to ensure that progress continues. While initially acquitted, Airbus and Air France are now being tried on appeal for the relatives of the victims like Philip Lang. The retrial is long anticipated. We hope that this appeal trial will finally allow us to know the truth. And to say today that only the pilots are responsible is something we cannot accept. The retrial is set to be held at Paris’s court of appeal and will last 2 months.
An appeals trial of Air France and Airbus opened Monday over the 2009 crash of Rio-Paris flight AF447 that killed 228 people. The Airbus A330 plunged into the Atlantic after pilots lost control, the worst disaster in the French flag carrier’s history. The victims included 72 French nationals and 58 Brazilians. Ellen Gainsford and Alice Brogat tell us more.
#RioPariscrash #crash2009 #Airfrance
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2 comments
So sad. On that plane there was a couple who celebrated their wedding just the day before. They were on the way to their honeymoon.
The accident report has been out for years. The pilots were completely disoriented and the first officer was pulling nose up for a long time before they hit the water. It was obviously pilot error at that point. Had he not been pulling nose up the aircraft wouldnt have crashed.
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