Airbus A330 crash
Death flight AF447 Rio-Paris: Air France and Airbus are on trial
The rudder of the crashed Air France Airbus A330-200 is recovered from the Atlantic in June 2009
© UPI Photo / Imago Images
228 people die when an Airbus crashes into the Atlantic between Rio de Janeiro and Paris in 2009. The clarification is difficult and the legal battle for responsibility is a year-long tug-of-war. Two large corporations are now in court.
More than 13 years after the crash of an Air France plane from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 dead, Airbus and Air France have to answer in court for manslaughter from Monday. “The survivors want the two companies to be convicted,” says lawyer Louis Caillez, who represents several relatives of the 28 German victims. A first procedure was discontinued in 2019.
It is the worst accident in the history of the French airline. The A330-203 crashed near the equator in the middle of the night over the Atlantic. All 216 passengers and the crew of twelve died. The plane wreck and the flight recorders were not found until two years later.
The flight data shows that shortly before entering a severe weather zone, the speed sensors iced up and the autopilot switched off. The flight computer incorrectly indicated that the aircraft was descending. The co-pilot steered the machine so steeply that it finally stalled and the machine fell like a stone into the sea.
The voice recorder recordings show that it was only about four minutes from the moment the pilots noticed the speedometer went out until the crash. Investigators assume that most of the passengers on flight AF447 were unaware of the emergency situation. Many of them were not buckled.
Prosecutors appealed
The final report by the French aviation investigation authority (BEA) in 2012 referred to a chain of human and technical errors that led to the accident. After years of legal tug-of-war, the French investigating magistrates dropped initial proceedings against Air France and Airbus in 2019.
At the time, many of the bereaved were disappointed and regretted that the investigators had focused too much on the pilot’s errors. The public prosecutor appealed. Both companies deny the allegations.
“There were several similar incidents (with the speed sensors) before the accident, but no consequences were drawn from them,” says lawyer Caillez. In the process, he wants to argue that the pilots were not sufficiently informed and trained. His clients are happy that the process is finally taking place. “There will be a debate about the mistakes made by Airbus and Air France,” he said.
Several Germans among the victims
The gauges used by Air France were known to be vulnerable. Shortly before the crash, the airline had started replacing the so-called pitot probes – but not on the machine that was supposed to fly from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.
The 28 German victims included the 31-year-old sales manager of a Munich hotel, Iris G., who had visited her brother. The Stuttgart fashion consultant Matthias P. returned from vacation. Valnizia B., who was 44 years old in Munich, had visited her daughter in Rio, and the Potsdam architect Moritz K. also visited star architect Oscar Niemeyer in Rio.
A couple with two adult daughters and a two-year-old granddaughter from Fellbach were also among the victims. The 44-year-old Harald W. had flown to Brazil to get documents for his upcoming wedding.
476 joint plaintiffs came forward in the process. The court hearing begins on Monday and is scheduled to last until December 8th. If convicted, the companies face fines of 225,000 euros.
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