Manslaughter Trial Underway for Air France Crash

Airbus blames the accident on pilot error, while Air France argues the pilots became confused and overwhelmed by conflicting data and alarms in the cockpit.

Meg Godlewski

Tuesday, October 11, 2022 at 01:59 PM ET

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The heads of both Air France and Airbus pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in a French criminal court in a first-of-its-kind manslaughter trial over the 2009 crash of an Air France Airbus A330 in the Atlantic that killed 228 people. [stock image]

Key Takeaways:

Air France and Airbus are currently on trial in France, accused of involuntary manslaughter for the 2009 crash of Air France Flight AF447, which killed 228 people.
The accident occurred after airspeed sensors iced up, causing pilots to become confused by conflicting data, fail to recognize a stall, and keep the aircraft in a nose-high attitude until it hit the ocean.
Airbus is suspected of responding too slowly to known issues with external pitot probes, while it blames pilot error; Air France argues its pilots were overwhelmed by conflicting cockpit data and alarms.
The CEOs of both companies pleaded not guilty, and victims' relatives expressed frustration over the relatively small maximum fines compared to the companies' revenues.