A French appeals court has found Air France and Airbus guilty of manslaughter over the crash of Flight AF447 in 2009, one of the deadliest aviation disasters in French history. The ruling comes nearly 17 years after the tragic accident that killed all 228 people on board when the aircraft plunged into the Atlantic Ocean during a storm while flying from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France.

The Paris Appeals Court ruled that both companies were “solely and entirely responsible” for the disaster. The verdict overturned an earlier decision from April 2023, when a lower court had cleared both Air France and Airbus of criminal responsibility. Following an eight-week appeal trial, the court delivered a guilty verdict on Thursday. Both companies have continued to deny wrongdoing and are expected to challenge the ruling through further appeals.

The crash involved an Airbus A330 operating as Air France Flight AF447. The aircraft disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, while flying at an altitude of around 38,000 feet. Investigators later found that the aircraft had stalled during severe weather conditions before crashing into the sea.

All 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board were killed. The victims came from 33 different countries, including France, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States. Among those who died were doctors, engineers, families travelling on holiday, and Brazilian royal family member Pedro Luiz de Orleans e Braganca.

The crash shocked the global aviation industry and led to one of the most difficult recovery and investigation operations in aviation history. The wreckage was eventually found deep in the Atlantic Ocean after an extensive search covering nearly 10,000 square kilometres of seabed. However, investigators were unable to recover the aircraft’s flight recorders until 2011, almost two years after the accident.

During the initial weeks of the search operation, only 51 bodies were recovered from the ocean. Many victims remained missing for months, leaving families waiting years for closure. Several relatives attended the court hearing on Thursday to hear the long-awaited verdict.

The court has asked both Air France and Airbus to pay the maximum fine of €225,000 each. However, some victims’ families criticised the amount, saying the financial penalty does not reflect the scale of the tragedy or the years of suffering endured by relatives.

Daniele Lamy, president of the AF447 victims’ association, welcomed the court’s decision. Lamy, who lost her son in the crash, said the ruling finally recognised the pain experienced by families after what she described as an unbearable collective tragedy.

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During the trial, prosecutors strongly criticised the actions of both companies, describing their behaviour as “unacceptable”. Prosecutors argued that technical risks had not been adequately addressed before the accident.

French investigators concluded in 2012 that the crash was caused by a combination of technical problems and pilot confusion. According to the investigation, faulty airspeed sensor readings caused the pilots to lose accurate flight information during severe weather conditions. As the aircraft entered a stall, the pilots mistakenly pulled the aircraft’s nose upward instead of lowering it, which worsened the situation and ultimately led to the crash.

The investigation also revealed concerns surrounding the aircraft’s pitot tubes, external speed sensors that were known to have experienced icing issues in certain conditions. Following the disaster, airlines around the world replaced the affected sensors and updated pilot training procedures to better prepare crews for high-altitude stall situations.

At the time of the accident, Air France stated that the captain had more than 11,000 hours of flying experience, including 1,700 hours on the Airbus A330 aircraft type. The aircraft had also undergone a maintenance inspection just weeks before the crash, in April 2009.

The latest court ruling is expected to have a significant reputational impact on both Air France and Airbus, reopening difficult questions about corporate accountability, aviation safety oversight, and technical risk management within the airline industry.