French Public Prosecutor’s Office will appeal the acquittal of Airbus and Air France for crash of flight AF447
The Paris prosecutor’s office announced Thursday that it will appeal the acquittal of Airbus and Air France in the case of the crash of flight AF447, which killed 228 people in June 2009.
By appealing the decision, the prosecution seeks to give “full effect to the remedies provided by law” and “submit the case to a second degree of jurisdiction,” the institution said in a statement.
The two companies were tried for involuntary manslaughter and on April 17 the Paris court acquitted them of any criminal liability, considering that although “mistakes” were made, they could not prove “any causal link” with the accident.
This decision caused outrage among the victims’ families.
“It is an immense relief,” Alain Jakubowicz, lawyer for some forty victims and for the Entraide et Solidarité association, which represents the victims’ relatives, admitted to AFP.
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“This appeal by the general prosecutor’s office was the last chance for the families of the victims,” he insisted, stressing the numerous “errors in this case.”
At the end of the trial, which took place from October 10 to December 8, the prosecutor’s office of the Paris judicial court requested the acquittal of both companies, considering that it was “impossible to prove” their guilt.
Jakubowicz welcomed the “very unusual decision of the attorney general’s office to appeal,” considering that the prosecution asked for the acquittal of the companies during the trial.
“There will be a new trial, and the determination of the families will be even greater. This gives us a lot of hope,” the lawyer stated.
On June 1, 2009, an A330 operating flight AF447 between Rio de Janeiro and Paris crashed in the middle of the night while flying over the Atlantic Ocean, a few hours after take-off.
On board the aircraft were 216 passengers of 33 nationalities, including 61 French, 58 Brazilians, two Spaniards and one Argentinean. The 12-person crew consisted of 11 French nationals and one Brazilian.
With information from AFP
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