Black box recording of deadly Rio-Paris flight to be played in court

An AF447 Rio-Paris flight data recorder is displayed during a press conference on May 12, 2011, at the French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety headquarters north of Paris. AFP - MEHDI FEDOUACH

The judge overseeing the trial against Air France and Airbus for involuntary homicide in the fatal 2009 crash of a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris has agreed to allow the recording from the black box flight recorder to be heard behind closed doors.

The judge agreed to a request of the victims' families, who had asked for the audio of the cockpit voice recorder, with the last four minutes of the flight before it crashed into the Atlantic, to be entered as evidence.