Paris: More than 16 years after the crash of an Air France jet between Rio de Janeiro and Paris that killed all 228 people on board, the airline and aircraft manufacturer Airbus were once again standing trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter. A Paris appeals court began hearing the case on Monday, with both companies facing possible fines of up to £225,000 ($263,000).
According to Ghana News Agency, Air France and Airbus have consistently denied responsibility for the disaster. Flight AF447 disappeared from radar on June 1, 2009, after being tossed by a storm en route from Rio to the French capital. The Airbus A330 plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, resulting in the loss of all 228 lives on board.
The cause of the disaster remained unclear for years, and the final victims’ bodies and the flight data recorder were recovered only in May 2011 from a depth of about 4,000 meters. Investigators eventually concluded that the crew had become overwhelmed after the plane’s Pitot speed-monitoring tubes iced up, and no longer provided clear readings.
The crash was marked as the deadliest in Air France’s history. Two years ago, a lower court acquitted both companies of the manslaughter charges, ruling that while they had acted at times negligently or carelessly, there was no direct causal link to the crash. Prosecutors appealed the verdict, leading to Monday’s retrial.