PARIS : The Paris Appeals Court on Wednesday overturned an earlier 2023 verdict that had cleared both companies, holding the airline and aircraft manufacturer responsible for the fatal crash of Air France Flight AF447, which disappeared while travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

The Airbus A330 aircraft vanished from radar during a violent storm over the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009. Investigators later found that the aircraft had stalled mid-flight before plunging into the sea from an altitude of 38,000 feet, killing all 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board.

The wreckage of the aircraft was discovered only after an extensive search operation covering nearly 10,000 square kilometres of ocean floor. The plane’s black boxes were eventually recovered in 2011 following months of deep-sea searches, helping investigators piece together the final moments of the flight.

The tragedy remains the deadliest aviation disaster in French history.

Relatives of the victims, many of whom were from France, Brazil and Germany, gathered in court to hear the verdict. Prosecutors had earlier criticised the conduct of both companies during closing arguments, describing their behaviour as “unacceptable”.

The court has asked both Air France and Airbus to pay the maximum fine of €225,000 each. However, several victims’ families have called the penalties symbolic and insufficient considering the scale of the tragedy.

Both companies have consistently denied wrongdoing throughout the case, and legal experts in France believe further appeals are likely.

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