Airbus and Air France have been acquitted of manslaughter fees by a French court docket on Monday over their position within the 2009 crash of a flight from Rio to Paris that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 folks on board.
The decision was a bitter disappointment for the households of the victims of the crash, who had battled for over a decade to carry Airbus, the plane producer, and Air France, the principle French airline, to trial.
However the ruling didn’t come as a shock. Prosecutors had stated on the finish of the trial, after reviewing all the proof, that they would not seek convictions, arguing that there was not sufficient proof to carry the businesses criminally liable.
The choice had left households of the victims disheartened and infuriated. On the trial, which happened between October and December of final 12 months, a few of them angrily stormed out of the courtroom after the prosecutors introduced their discovering.
Each firms had repeatedly insisted that they weren’t chargeable for the accident, which was the deadliest in Air France’s historical past. No particular person executives or managers have been on trial, and Airbus and Air France have been every going through a positive of 225,000 euros, or about $218,300 — a negligible determine in comparison with their backside strains. Households of the victims have already acquired monetary compensation.
However a responsible verdict carried the potential to noticeably damage the repute of the 2 aviation heavyweights. Chief executives for Airbus and Air France, who testified when the proceedings opened in October, have been angrily heckled by a few of the plaintiffs with cries of “Disgrace on you!”
