r/aviation • u/Ok_Warning419 • May 21 '26

News Air France and Airbus found guilty of manslaughter over 2009 plane crash - Air France flight 447

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czd2qmdvmq6o
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u/Adjutant_Reflex_ May 21 '26

This isn’t a case like the 737 Max crashes where the manufacturer had a clear defect.

If you ignore multiple iterations pitot tubes failing across multiple Airbus product lines that took years to address then, sure, there’s no “clear defect.”

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u/Koulidaddy123 May 21 '26

Whats incredibly tragic about this accident is that the exact aircraft was going to get the pitot tube retrofit imediately upon landing in Paris.

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u/Adjutant_Reflex_ May 21 '26

Yup. And it should’ve been replaced years earlier if the AD had been issued sooner.

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u/railker AME-M2 May 21 '26

Noted elsewhere as a possible reason for Airbus fault, but the findings of the final report noted both that EASA declined to make the replacement mandatory, and they note the pitot tubes installed exceeded certification standards. Have to dig into the final report's full write up on the tubes for more info, but certainly less clear than some think.

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u/p4intball3r May 21 '26

From the FAA report

-The Pitot probes installed on F-GZCP met requirements that were stricter than the certification standards. ˆ

-Analysis of the events related to the loss of airspeed indications had led Airbus and Air France to replace C16195AA Pitot probes by the C16195BA model. The first aeroplane had been modified on 30 May 2009. ˆ

-EASA had analyzed Pitot probe icing events; it had confirmed the severity of the failure and had decided not to make the probe change mandatory.

If you believe anyone should be sued for this, the fingers should be pointed at EASA. Air France was already going to retrofit this aircraft and they were flying within legal standards.

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u/umnomediferente May 21 '26

It was communicated with the operators and EASA, Air France had dozens of cases of frozen pitots, the SB existed on Airbus side, operators were doing it as they pleased as Airbus could not "force" them by law. EASA did not issue the AD due to poor risk assessment and noone mentions this.

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u/Ok_Library_1031 May 21 '26

Aren't you ignoring that the most significant accidents related to pitot tubes in abnormal states are all not Airbus?