Air France and Airbus to stand trial over 2009 crash

Air France and Airbus are set to stand trial over an air crash in 2009 that killed all 228 people on board after a French appeals court overturned a previous decision not to push ahead with charges. Air France flight 447, a twin-engined Airbus A330, crashed into the Atlantic en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1 2009 after the jet stalled during a thunderstorm. It was the deadliest crash in the history of Air France, killing 216 passengers and 12 crew members. On Wednesday, French judges, said the two groups should stand trial for “involuntary manslaughter”, according to a spokesperson for the appeals court. A date for the trial has not yet been set, said the same person. Air France and Airbus, one of the world’s largest aeroplane manufacturers, had been put under formal investigation in 2011 for the same charge. Wednesday’s decision overturns a 2019 ruling against a trial, with the judges at the time blaming human error for the crash, saying the “accident is evidently due to a conjunction of elements that had never occurred before, and thus highlighted dangers that could not have been perceived before this accident”. In 2019, prosecutors had only recommended putting Air France on trial.  <br/>