Swiftair Found Guilty of Corporate Manslaughter in 2014 Mali Plane Crash
Details and Implications of the Swiftair Verdict
Background of the Crash
PARIS, Sept 28 (Reuters) - The Paris Criminal Court found Spanish company Swiftair guilty of corporate manslaughter on Monday over the 2014 crash of an Air Algerie flight that killed 116 people in northern Mali.
Legal Proceedings and Company Response
Swiftair's Defense and Legal Arguments
Swiftair has denied the charges and attempted to have the case halted on the grounds that it could not be tried in France because a Spanish court had already dropped the case.
French Court Ruling and Penalties
However, a French judge ordered the company to pay the maximum fine of €225,000 after a three-week trial earlier this year over the crash of a Swiftair-owned MD-83 airliner.
Swiftair, which has 10 days to appeal the ruling, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Crash Circumstances and Investigation Findings
Events Leading to the Crash
Air Algerie Flight AH5017 hit the ground less than an hour after it left the Burkinabe capital of Ouagadougou, killing everyone on board, about half of whom were French. Investigators said the aircraft went out of control when it was hit by ice as an anti-icing system remained switched off.
Prosecutors' Allegations
Prosecutors alleged negligence in the way Swiftair pilots, operating the flight on behalf of Air Algerie, were trained to deal with icy conditions and erratic data readings.
Swiftair's Response to Allegations
Swiftair blamed shortcomings in regulation and manuals.
Court's Final Judgement
In Monday's judgement, the court rejected some prosecution arguments about poor training but said the captain had not had a proper proficiency check and the crew had not had the required number of refresher flights after a period of inactivity.
(Reporting by Makini Brice, Tim Hepher and Juliette Jabkhiro; Editing by Alexander Smith)