Air France and aircraft manufacturer Airbus are to be investigated over the crash of an Airbus A330 in 2009 which killed 228 passengers and crew.
The flight between Rio de Janeiro and Paris went down over the Atlantic on a stormy night in June 2009. The aircraft’s black box flight data recorder has not been recovered and the cause of the crash remains unknown. Very little wreckage was found.
A fresh search for the flight data recorder was due to begin today using deep-sea robots. French investigating magistrate Judge Sylvie Zimmerman informed Airbus and Air France they are under investigation on charges on Friday. Both companies expressed surprise.
An Air France spokesman said: “We believe that it [the investigation] holds little grounds.” Airbus chief executive Tom Enders said he “strongly disagreed” with the move, noting “the absence of facts” to support any charges.
Early reports on the possible cause of the crash suggested ice may have affected the aircraft’s air-speed instruments leading the engines to stall, but this theory has not been confirmed.