A Paris appeals court has convicted Airbus and Air France of involuntary manslaughter over the 2009 crash of Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, which killed 228 people, according to Reuters. The ruling, issued May 21, 2026, imposes the maximum corporate fine allowed under French law for the offense: €225,000 (about $243,000) for each company.
The decision reverses a 2021 trial-court ruling in which a Paris criminal court cleared both companies. The appeals judgment caps a legal fight that has stretched nearly two decades and drawn sustained involvement from victims’ families, technical experts and lawyers.
228 deaths, an Airbus A330, and a long-running fight over accountability
Flight 447, operated by an Airbus A330, went down in the Atlantic overnight from May 31 to June 1, 2009, killing all 228 passengers and crew members.
Investigations pointed to failures involving Pitot probes—sensors used to measure an aircraft’s speed—and to how the crew responded to cockpit alarms. Airbus, headquartered in Toulouse, was scrutinized over an alleged design or information defect related to the probes, while Air France faced questions about pilot training. Both companies disputed criminal responsibility.
While the fine is modest compared with the scale of the tragedy, it reflects the limits of France’s criminal penalties for corporate entities. For families organized in victim groups for years, the central demand was recognition that a serious fault occurred.
Airbus shares dip in early June 2026, but the fine is not the financial story
In the market, Airbus shares closed at €226.60 on June 2, 2026, on Euronext Paris, down 1.48% on the day, according to available trading data. The stock opened at €232.70 and hit an intraday low of €226.60, with 344,171 shares traded—above the three-month average of 300,789.
The May 21 conviction did not trigger a lasting drop in the share price, likely because investors had already factored in that the fine—capped at €225,000 (about $243,000)—poses no material financial risk for a group with annual revenue above €65 billion (about $70.2 billion). The bigger question for investors is whether the criminal conviction could make additional civil actions easier to pursue.
