Airbus and Air France have both been acquitted of manslaughter charges this afternoon in the conclusion of the trial over the 2009 crash of Rio-Paris Flight 447.
A French court ruled today that neither Airbus nor Air France were guilty of manslaughter over the crash, which killed 228 people - among them three Irish women.
Sobs broke out among victims' families in the courtroom as the judges read out the verdict.
READ MORE - Chilling last words of pilot before Air France plane crashed into Atlantic, killing 228
Acquittal had been anticipated, with even state prosecutors arguing that proceedings did not produce enough proof of criminal wrongdoing by the respective companies. Prosecutors, instead, laid the responsibility primarily with the pilots, who died in the crash.
Airbus lawyers also blamed pilot error, and Air France said the full reasons for the crash will never be known.
Air France had already compensated the families of those killed, who came from 33 countries, including Ireland. Three doctors - Jane Deasy from Rathgar, Co Dublin, Eithne Walls from Ballygowan, Co Down and Aisling Butler from Roscrea, Co Tipperary - died.
The A330-200 plane disappeared from the radar in a storm over the Atlantic on June 1 2009, with 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board.
It took two years to find the aircraft and its black box recorders on the ocean floor, at depths of approximately 4,000m.
The official investigation found that multiple factors contributed to the crash, including pilot error and the icing over of external sensors called pitot tubes.
The crash had lasting impacts on the industry, leading to changes in regulations for airspeed sensors and in how pilots are trained.
The trial was fraught with emotion. Distraught families shouted down the chief executives of Airbus and Air France as the proceedings opened in October, crying out “Shame!” as they entered the witness box.
Dozens of people who lost loved ones stormed out of the court when the prosecutors called for acquittal.
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