On June 1, 2009, Air France flight AF447 crashed into the Atlantic with 228 people on board, en route from Rio to Paris. After years of litigation, an appeals court has found both Airbus and the airline guilty of involuntary manslaughter, closing a key chapter in aviation safety.
Technical failure and design errors under judicial scrutiny ✈️
The investigation indicated that frozen Pitot sensors caused erroneous speed data, disabling the autopilot. The disoriented crew applied excessive climb, leading to a stall. The court considered that Airbus did not adequately inform about the risks of the sensors and that Air France did not train its pilots to respond to such failures at high altitude.
The trial that came late, but without legal turbulence ⚖️
After an initial trial that acquitted everyone in 2023, the appeal has taken a turn. Now, Airbus and Air France face fines of up to 225,000 euros each. A figure that, compared to the costs of changing sensors in time, seems like the price of a business class ticket for a journey that should never have happened.