Overview
- On May 21, 2026 the Paris Court of Appeal found Air France and Airbus guilty of corporate manslaughter for the 2009 Rio–Paris Flight AF447 crash and ordered each company to pay the maximum statutory fine of €225,000.
- French investigators concluded in their 2012 BEA report that ice had blocked the aircraft’s pitot tubes, producing unreliable airspeed readings that led the autopilot to disconnect and the crew to apply control inputs that caused an unrecovered aerodynamic stall.
- Prosecutors argued the companies knew about pitot‑probe and sensor vulnerabilities and failed to ensure adequate high‑altitude training or timely safety fixes, a chain of alleged failures the appeals court linked to the crash.
- Both companies deny criminal liability, Airbus has said it will appeal to France’s highest court, and legal experts expect further appeals that will concentrate on points of law rather than re‑examining the factual record.
- Relatives welcomed the conviction as formal recognition after a 17‑year fight but called the €225,000 fines largely symbolic, while the case highlights industry changes to airspeed sensors and pilot training prompted by the accident.