Paris prosecutor seeks Air France, Airbus trial over deadly 2009 crash

  • In 2019, French judges dropped charges against the airline and plane manufacturer over the crash, blaming the pilots for losing control of the plane.
  • French investigators found the crew of AF447 mishandled the loss of speed readings from sensors blocked with ice from a storm.
Updated 27 Jan, 2021

PARIS: The Paris public prosecutor wants Air France and Airbus to stand trial over the 2009 crash of flight AF447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, which killed all 228 people on board, Le Parisien newspaper said on its website.

In 2019, French judges dropped charges against the airline and plane manufacturer over the crash, blaming the pilots for losing control of the plane.

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

However, the Paris prosecutor now says there were "blameworthy infringements" on the part of Air France, notably in crew training, and blames Airbus for under-estimating the risks posed by ice on the sensors, Le Parisien said, without saying where it obtained the information.

An appeals court hearing to rule on the request is slated for March 4, the newspaper added.

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

Read Comments