Prosecutors recommend trial for Air France over 2009 crash in Atlantic of flight AF447, judicial sources say
- Families of victims have demanded the airline and plane maker Airbus be held accountable for the crash after they were charged with manslaughter
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French prosecutors have recommended that Air France face trial for manslaughter and negligence over the 2009 crash of a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in which 228 people died, judicial sources said.
They concluded that Air France was aware of technical problems with a key speed-measuring instrument on its Airbus A330 plane, but failed to tell the pilots or train them how to resolve the issue, according to an investigation document seen by AFP.
Flight AF447 plunged into the Atlantic during a storm on June 1, 2009, with a defect with the plane’s Pitot tubes – which enable pilots to monitor their speed – found to be the cause.
It took two years to find the wreckage of the plane off Brazil which was eventually located by remote-controlled submarines at a depth of 3,900 metres (13,000 feet).
The prosecutors recommended dropping the case against Airbus, despite demands from the families of victims that the aircraft manufacturer should also be held accountable for the crash.
Both companies had been charged with manslaughter in 2011.
In a legal case that is now into its 10th year, investigating magistrates must now decide whether to follow the recommendations of prosecutors and bring the case to trial.
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Air France will also be able to appeal any decision to bring the case to court.
A report from French air crash investigator BEA in 2012 concluded that the ill-prepared crew failed to react correctly when their Airbus stalled and lost altitude after the speed sensors froze.
