Airbus is expected to take its challenge over the 2009 Air France Flight 447 disaster to France’s Court of Cassation after a Paris Court of Appeal ruling in the long-running criminal case. The move follows the appellate proceedings over whether Airbus and Air France should face criminal liability for the loss of the Rio de Janeiro to Paris flight, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 people on board.
The case has centered on findings from France’s accident investigation agency, the BEA, which concluded that the crash resulted from a chain of technical and human factors. Pitot probes iced over in storm conditions, causing unreliable airspeed readings, the autopilot disconnected, and the crew then struggled to manage the aircraft manually at high altitude. Prosecutors and victims’ families have argued that Airbus underestimated the risk of probe icing and that Air France did not adequately prepare its pilots for such an emergency.
Both companies have denied criminal responsibility and have maintained that the crash stemmed from exceptional weather and crew error.