Airbus and Air France face criminal liability after a Paris appeals court found both companies guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 Rio-Paris crash that killed 228 people. The ruling overturns a 2023 lower court decision that had cleared the companies and imposes €225,000 fines on each. Prosecutors focused on Air France's training failures and Airbus's failure to address sensor issues.

The verdict marks a significant victory for victim families who campaigned for years to hold the companies accountable. Airbus immediately announced plans to appeal to France's highest court, maintaining its position that human error—not technical failures—caused the disaster. The crash resulted from ice-blocked sensors that corrupted speed readings, leading to pilot errors during manual control.

Legal analysts view this case as significant for aviation liability standards. The decision places safety considerations above economic interests in airline operations, potentially setting precedents for future crash investigations. Victim groups welcomed the ruling as a landmark moment for corporate accountability in the aviation industry.