A Paris court found on Thursday Airbus and Air France guilty of involuntary manslaughter, which killed 228 people on a flight between Rio de Janeiro and Paris back in 2009, in the worst disaster in France's aviation history.
The Paris Court of Appeal ruled that the French flag carrier and Europe's leading aerospace manufacturer were "solely and entirely responsible for the crash of flight AF447," ordering each to pay 225,000 euros ($261,000) – the maximum fine for corporate manslaughter.
While the penalties are symbolic, the ruling will be seen as significant reputational damage for both companies.
On June 1, 2009, Air France Flight AF447, travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, was cruising over the Atlantic when the pilots lost control of the aircraft, causing it to plunge into the ocean.
There were no survivors among the 216 passengers and 12 crew on board the Airbus-built A330 aircraft, the dead including 72 French nationals and 58 Brazilians.
The companies, which have denied any criminal liability, blaming pilot error, had been acquitted by a lower court in 2023.
That verdict was a blow to the victims' families, who said they were outraged by the court's decision to clear the companies of the charges.
Although prosecutors at the time had asked for the charges to be dropped, they had subsequently lodged the appeal to allow "the full potential of the legal appeals procedure" to play out.
The eight-week appeal trial ran between September and December last year.
In November, prosecutor Rodolphe Juy-Birmann lambasted the behaviour of Air France and Airbus over the years.
"Nothing has come of it – not a single word of sincere comfort," he said.
"It's a rock-solid defense. One word sums up this whole circus: indecency."
Lawyers for the families have argued that both companies were aware of the problem with pitot tubes, which are used to measure flight speed, and that the pilots were not trained to deal with such a high-altitude emergency.
The court heard how a malfunction with the tubes, which became blocked with ice crystals during a mid-Atlantic storm, caused alarms to sound in the plane's cockpit and the autopilot system to switch off.
Experts highlighted how, after the instrument failed, the pilots put the plane into a climb that caused the aircraft to stall and then crash into the ocean.
The companies were found guilty on all counts.
The court criticized Airbus for underestimating the seriousness of problems with sensors and failing to properly inform the crews of operating airlines.
Air France was found guilty of failing to provide pilot training tailored to situations involving icing of pitot tubes and to adequately inform flight crews.
In October, Christophe Cail, who represented Airbus, said in court the company's goal was "zero accidents."
"Even the smallest accident is a failure for our entire community," he said.
Pascal Weil, who represented Air France, said at the time that the company "had the means to conduct high-altitude training, but we did not do so because we sincerely believed it was unnecessary."
