Swiftair convicted of corporate manslaughter over 2014 Air Algerie crash in Mali
A Paris court found Spanish airline Swiftair guilty over the 2014 crash that killed 116 people in Mali. The company was ordered to pay the maximum fine of €225,000.
Paris court convicts Swiftair over fatal Air Algerie crash that killed 116
The Paris Criminal Court on Monday found Spanish aviation company Swiftair guilty of corporate manslaughter in connection with the 2014 crash of Air Algerie Flight AH5017, which killed all 116 people on board over northern Mali, devdiscourse.com reports.
The court ordered Swiftair to pay the maximum penalty of €225,000, following a three-week trial held earlier this year. The company has 10 days to lodge an appeal and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Swiftair had denied the charges and sought to have the case dismissed, arguing it could not be tried in France because a Spanish court had already closed proceedings against it. The French judge rejected that argument.
Flight AH5017, operated by Swiftair on behalf of Air Algerie, went down less than an hour after departing Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. Investigators determined the aircraft lost control after ice struck it while its anti-icing system was switched off. Roughly half of those killed were French nationals.
Prosecutors alleged that Swiftair's pilots had been inadequately trained to handle icy conditions and erratic instrument readings. The company attributed the crash to shortcomings in regulatory standards and operational manuals.
In Monday's ruling, the court rejected certain prosecution arguments relating to training deficiencies, but found that the captain had not undergone a proper proficiency check and that the crew had not completed the required number of refresher flights following a period of inactivity.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)