Air France 2009 crash verdict sparks mixed emotions among families
Seventeen years after the Atlantic disaster, an appeals court delivers a corporate blow that some relatives say stops short of true justice
The Brazilian head of a victims’ association for the 2009 crash of Flight 447 from Rio to Paris said that justice has yet to be served in France’s worst aviation crash after a Paris appeals court found Airbus and Air France guilty of manslaughter.
Air France and Airbus, two of France’s most emblematic companies, said in separate statements that they would appeal Thursday’s ruling, potentially prolonging the legal battle for years.
Brazilian Nelson Faria Marinho, who lost his son in the crash that killed 228 passengers and crew members, said he remained unsatisfied with the verdict.
The Paris appeals court on Thursday found Airbus and Air France guilty of manslaughter over the crash, and ordered the companies to pay the maximum fine of €225,000 (approximately US$260,000) each, according to Daniele Lamy, president of a French association of victims of the crash.
Lamy, who lost her son Eric in the crash, was in the courtroom throughout this trial and the original trial, and welcomed Thursday’s verdict.
But Marinho said he wished to see prison sentences for the companies’ executives at the time, although the case has centred on institutional rather than personal responsibility.