Prosecutors claim no responsibility after plane crash

Prosecutors claim no responsibility after plane crash

Published: Just now

full screen Lawyer Thibault de Montbrial, representing the German victims of the devastating Air France plane crash in 2009, when the trial began in October. Archive image. Photo: Michel Euler/AP/TT

Prosecutors in France say no convictions will be sought for Air France and Airbus in the trial over the deadly 2009 plane crash that killed more than 200 people off the coast of Brazil.

Before the trial – which began in October – both companies were accused of causing the death of another after the crash, which is the worst in Air France’s history.

The companies’ guilt “seems to be impossible for us to prove. We know that this approach will certainly be painful for the civil plaintiffs, but we are not in a position to demand any conviction from Air France and Airbus,” the prosecution informed the court on Wednesday.

228 people, including three Swedes, died in the accident 80 miles from the coast of Brazil. The plane had taken off from Rio de Janeiro and was on its way to Paris.

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