Airbus and Air France have been acquitted of manslaughter charges over a plane crash in which a Scot died.
Graham Gardner died in the 2009 disaster involving Rio-Paris Flight 447 while he was trying to get home early to see his family. Tragically, the 52-year-old merchant seaman was on the doomed trip from Brazil after he swapped flights.
The Rio de Janeiro to Paris flight plunged into the Atlantic amid thunderstorms, killing all 228 people on board and leading to changes in air safety regulations. But today French court ruled the two companies were not guilty of manslaughter over the incident.
Sobs broke out among victims’ families in the courtroom as the judges read out the decision. People of 33 different nationalities died in the disaster. Acquittal was expected - a devastating defeat for victims’ families who fought for 13 years to see the case reach court.
The two-month trial left families wracked with anger and disappointment. Unusually, even state prosecutors had argued for acquittal, saying that the proceedings did not produce enough proof of criminal wrongdoing by the companies.
Prosecutors laid the responsibility primarily with the pilots, who died in the crash. Airbus lawyers also blamed pilot error, and Air France said the full reasons for the crash will never be known.
Airbus and Air France had faced potential fines of up to 225,000 euros (£199,000) each if convicted. While that is just a fraction of their annual revenues, a conviction for the aviation heavyweights would have reverberated through the industry. Air France has already compensated the families of those killed, who came from 33 countries. Families from around the world are among the plaintiffs, including many in Brazil.
The A330-200 plane disappeared from the radar in a storm over the Atlantic on June 1 2009, with 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board. It took two years to find the aircraft and its black box recorders on the ocean floor, at depths of more than 13,000ft (around 4,000m).
The official investigation found that multiple factors contributed to the crash, including pilot error and the icing over of external sensors called pitot tubes. At the time of the crash, Graham’s wife Joyce, then 51, said: “The time we had together was precious because Graham was on a month-on, month-off contract.”
Joyce, from Gourock, Renfrewshire, paid tribute to her “loving, caring” husband, who lived all his life in the Greenock area and had been in the Merchant Navy since leaving the town’s high school.
She said: “Graham was always there for me. Although we don’t have children, he was a family man and loved playing with the children in our extended family. He was a big kid at heart. I’m sure I can speak for everyone who knew him, whether family, friend or colleague, in saying that he will be missed dearly.”
Human resources co-ordinator Joyce and Graham knew each other since childhood and became a couple 10 years after leaving school. They married in 2001.
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