Air France 447: airline acquitted of manslaughter charges over deadly 2009 Rio-Paris flight crash

A French court has acquitted Airbus and Air France of manslaughter charges, over the deadly 2009 crash of Flight 447 from Rio to Paris.

All 228 people onboard the scheduled flight were killed when the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. The official investigation found that multiple factors contributed to the crash, including pilot error and the icing over of external sensors called pitot tubes - with the accident leading to lasting changes in aircraft safety measures.

Sobs broke out among victims’ families in the courtroom as the judges read out the decision.

The Associated Press reports the two-month trial had left families wracked with anger and disappointment. Unusually, even state prosecutors argued for acquittal, saying that the proceedings did not produce enough proof of criminal wrongdoing by the companies.

Distraught families shouted down the CEOs of Airbus and Air France as the proceedings opened in October, crying out "shame!" as executives took the stand.

Air France was accused of not having implemented training in the event of icing of the pitot probes despite the risks, while Airbus was accused of not doing enough to urgently inform airlines and their crews about faults with the pitots or to ensure training to mitigate the risk.

But prosecutors laid the responsibility primarily with the pilots, who died in the crash. Airbus lawyers also blamed pilot error, while Air France said the full reasons for the crash would never be known.

Airbus and Air France had faced potential fines of up to €225,000 euros (£199,000) each if convicted. Air France has already compensated families of those killed, who came from 33 different countries. Families from around the world were among the plaintiffs, including many in Brazil.

The A330-200 plane disappeared from radars in a storm over the Atlantic Ocean on 1 June, 2009, with 216 passengers and 12 crew members aboard. It took two years to find the plane and its black box recorders on the ocean floor, at depths of more than 4,000 metres.

An Associated Press investigation at the time found that Airbus had known since at least 2002 about problems with the type of pitot tubes used on the jet that crashed, but failed to replace them until after the crash.

The crash had lasting impacts on the industry, leading to changes in regulations for airspeed sensors and in how pilots are trained. Dozens of people who lost loved ones stormed out of the court when the prosecutors called for acquittal.