Both Airbus and Air France have been acquitted of manslaughter charges over the crash of Flight 447 from Rio to Paris in 2009. The accident killed 228 people, including Alexander Bjoroy - an 11-year-old boarder at Clifton College.
A French court has today announced the decision following the crash which led to lasting changes in aircraft safety measures. The investigation found that a number of factors contributed to the crash, including pilot error and the icing over of external sensors called pitot tubes.
The trial, which lasted for two months, left families angry and disappointed with some storming out of the court when prosecutors called for acquittal. The state prosecutors argued for acquittal, saying that the proceeding did not produce enough proof of criminal wrongdoing by Airbus and Air France.
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Prosecutors placed the bulk of the blame on the pilots, who died in the crash. The lawyers for Airbus also blamed pilot error for the crash while Air France said the full reasons will never be known.
Both companies faced potential fines of around £199,000 each if convicted, Air France has already compensated families of those killed.
The A330-200 plane disappeared from radar in a storm over the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009. There were 216 passengers and 12 crew members aboard.
The plane and its black box recorders were found on the ocean floor two years later. They were discovered at depths of more than 4,000 metres.
An investigation carried out by Associated Press found that Airbus had known since 2002 about problems with the type of pitot tubes used on the jet that crashed. However, they were not replaced until after the devastating crash.
Air France was accused of not having implemented training in the event of icing of the pitot probes despite the risks. Meanwhile, Airbus was accused of not doing enough to urgently inform airlines and their crews about faults with the pilots or to ensure training to mitigate the risk.
The crash had lasting impacts on the industry. It has led to changes in regulations for airspeed sensors and in how pilots are trained.
The trial was fraught with emotion, with sobs breaking out among victims’ families in the courtroom as the judges read out the decision. Some shouted down the CEOs of Airbus and Air France as they took to the stand in October, crying out “Shame!”.
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