Lhe worst French air disaster is still remembered. Justice decides this Monday, April 17 on the responsibilities of the crash of the Rio-Paris in 2009. Tried for manslaughter, the European manufacturer Airbus and the French company Air France, who contest any fault in connection with the accident, incur a fine of 225,000 euros. Here are the five key dates that marked this accident, the deadliest in the history of Air France.
June 1, 2009: a disappearance off the coast of Brazil
On June 1, 2009, flight AF447 between Rio de Janeiro and Paris crashed in the middle of the night in the Atlantic, a few hours after takeoff, resulting in the death of 228 people: 216 passengers of 33 nationalities on board, including 61 French, 57 Brazilians and 26 Germans as well as the crew of 12 members, made up of 11 French and 1 Brazilian. The first debris, as well as bodies, were found the following days. But the wreckage was only located two years later after a long search, 3,900 meters deep.
READ ALSOTrial of flight AF447 Rio-Paris: the story of the crash
June 5, 2009: justice seizes the case
Four days after the accident, on June 5, 2009, a judicial investigation was opened in Paris against X for “involuntary homicides”. The Bureau of Investigations and Analysis (BEA) announces that the aircraft sent 24 automatic anomaly messages in four minutes, revealing in particular “an inconsistency in the speeds measured […] Read more
