A Paris appeals court has found Airbus and Air France guilty of corporate manslaughter over the 2009 crash of Air France Flight 447, which killed all 228 people on board and remains France’s worst aviation disaster.
The court ordered both companies to pay the maximum fine of EUR 225,000 (US $261,000) each. The verdict, delivered on May 21, 2026, marks a significant turn in a legal battle that has stretched over 17 years.
Air France Flight 447: What happened
On June 1, 2009, an Airbus A330 operating as Air France Flight 447 departed Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, bound for Paris. The aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean at 02:14 local time during a storm, killing all 12 crew members and 216 passengers. Those on board were of 33 nationalities.
The plane vanished from radar screens, and while the Brazilian Navy recovered some wreckage in the immediate aftermath, the black boxes were not retrieved until 2011 following a deep-sea search covering 10,000 square kilometers.
What investigators found
French crash investigators determined that ice crystals had blocked the aircraft’s pitot tubes, which measure airspeed. The blockage caused the autopilot to disengage and triggered inconsistent airspeed readings in the cockpit.
The crew reacted incorrectly to the situation, and the aircraft entered a stall from which they failed to recover. A final report attributed the crash to a combination of small mechanical issues, insufficient crew training to handle such a scenario, and poor communication between the pilot and co-pilot.
The legal case
Prosecutors argued that both Airbus and Air France were negligent, pointing to poor training practices and a failure to follow up on earlier incidents involving similar sensor malfunctions.
In April 2023, a lower court had cleared both companies of the charges. However, under the French legal system, the appeal involved a completely new trial with all evidence reviewed from scratch.
Both companies have repeatedly denied the charges. Further appeals are expected.
Families react
Relatives of the victims gathered in Paris to hear the verdict. While the fines amount to just minutes of revenue for either company, family groups have said that a conviction represents recognition of their loss after nearly two decades of seeking accountability.
Airbus to appeal at Court of Cassation
In a statement issued from Toulouse on May 21, 2026, Airbus said it would lodge an appeal with the Court of Cassation, France’s highest court for criminal and civil matters, to allow a judicial review of the legal questions raised by the case.
The manufacturer noted that the Paris Court of Appeal’s decision contradicts the submissions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office at both stages of the proceedings, the dismissal order issued by the investigating judges in 2019, and the acquittal judgment handed down at first instance in 2023. Airbus also reiterated its sympathies to the families of the victims and said flight safety remained the company’s absolute priority.
Air France has not yet indicated whether it will pursue a similar appeal.