Airbus and Air France face trial over Rio-Paris flight crash

Airbus and Air France went on trial on manslaughter charges Monday over the crash of a Rio de Janeiro to Paris flight in 2009 that plunged into the Atlantic amid thunderstorms.

The crash of storm-tossed Flight 447 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris killed all 228 people aboard and had lasting impact on the industry, leading to changes in regulations for airspeed sensors and in how pilots are trained.

The victims came from 33 countries, and families from around the world are among the plaintiffs in the case.

They fought for more than a decade to see the case come to trial.

In Brazil, Nelson Marinho, who lost his son Nelson Marinho Filho, the founder of the Families of Flight 447 Victims Association, does not believe in justice.

"I don't believe in the French justice. I don't believe this because the French government is very pro-corporate. They preserve their own patrimony. Air France and Airbus are state-owned; it's their own patrimony. I don't believe that justice will be done. No one will be arrested, that's for sure," said Marinho.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury and Air France CEO Anne Rigail were among those at the courthouse Monday.

Both companies deny criminal wrongdoing, though Air France has already compensated the families of those killed.

If convicted, each company faces potential fines of up to 225,000 euros ($219,000), a fraction of their annual revenues.

No one risks prison as only the companies are on trial.

Still, the families see the trial itself as important after their long quest for justice, and aviation industry experts see it as significant for learning lessons that could prevent future crashes.

The investigation found multiple factors contributed to the crash of Flight 447.

The trial is expected to focus on pilot error and the icing over of external sensors called pitot tubes.

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

The A330-200 plane disappeared from radar over the Atlantic Ocean between Brazil and Senegal with 216 passengers and 12 crew members aboard.

As a storm buffeted the plane, ice disabled the pitot tubes, blocking speed and altitude information.

The autopilot disconnected. The crew resumed manual piloting but with erroneous navigation data.

The plane went into an aerodynamic stall, its nose pitched upward and then it plunged into the sea.

It took two years to find the plane and its black box recorders on the ocean floor at depths of more than 13,000 feet (around 4,000 meters).

Air France is accused of not having implemented training in the event of icing of the pitot probes despite the risks.

It has since changed its training manuals and simulations. The company said it would demonstrate in court "that it has not committed a criminal fault at the origin of the accident" and plead for acquittal.

Airbus is accused of having known that the model of pitot tubes on Flight 447 was faulty and not doing enough to urgently inform airlines and their crews about it and to ensure training to mitigate the resulting risk.

The model in question - a Thales AA pitot - was subsequently banned and replaced.

Airbus blames pilot error and told investigators that icing over is a problem inherent to all such sensors.