The appeal process has started on the largest air disaster in the history of Air France

In Paris, before the court of a higher instance, a trial on the 2009 disaster began on Monday, when the Airbus A330 plane flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris collapsed to the Atlantic. It was the largest air disaster in the history of Air France; 228 people were killed then.

A wide -hulted Air France, a wide -hulted A330 long -olian passenger jet, fell to the Atlantic in the morning on June 1, 2009. After the disaster, it was recognized that the accident caused a clogging of a pressure flight speed indicator (so -called pitot tubes) by settling ice. It was only after two years that black plane boxes were found, which confirmed this hypothesis.

During the trial in 2023, after two months of debates full of technical details and emotional moments, when the relatives of the victims testified, the court decided that Airbus and Air France did not bear criminal liability. Instead, he recognized their civil liability. He assessed that although there was “carelessness” and “neglect”, no certain causal relationship with the disaster had been established.

The prosecutor's office appealed. 281 joined the appeal from 489 civil parties occurring during the trial before the court of first instance.

The President of Air France Anne Rigail said on Monday that the lines are still supporting their opinion that they did not commit a crime that would entail a disaster. The carrier is accused that he did not introduce pilots training appropriate to the icing of Pitot's pipes, and the Airbus concern – that he underestimated the seriousness of the failure of the speed indicators and did not take all necessary actions to quickly inform the airlines that were equipped with this equipment. The concern denies these accusations.

The trial before a higher court will last two months – until November 27. Witnesses and experts will be interrogated for the first month.

In 2012, the French Bureau of Research and Analysis (BEA), which deals with the explanation of air accidents, decided that a technical failure was caused by the freezing of Pitot's pipes at the ground of the plane crash. At the same time, she assessed that the crew inadequately reacted to the wrong indications of these speed sensors. Pilots – according to the report – did not take appropriate actions in response to continuous alarm signals, indicating the loss of support by the aircraft, which in four minutes led to its collision with the ocean surface. 228 people were killed in the disaster – all on board – 216 passengers and a 12 -person crew.

In its report, BEA recommended introducing changes in training procedures and modifying the equipment of Airbus pilots cabin to prevent the disaster from repeating, the basis of which was the subject of a dispute between pilots and Air France on the one hand, and on the other – from the Airbus consortium as a machine manufacturer.

From Paris Anna Wróbel (PAP)

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