Families of the 116 people killed in the 2014 Air Algérie crash have welcomed a Paris court ruling that found Spanish airline Swiftair guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
The court on Monday fined Swiftair €225,000, the maximum penalty, more than 12 years after flight AH5017 crashed in northern Mali. The McDonnell Douglas MD-83 was travelling from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to Algiers, Algeria, when it went down on July 24, 2014. Everyone on board was killed. Those who died included 54 French citizens, 23 Burkinabè nationals, Lebanese and Algerian passengers, as well as six Spanish crew members.
The ruling brought relief to relatives who had waited years for the case to reach a conclusion. Sandrine Tricot, who lost her husband, Frederic, in the crash, described the verdict as a relief after what she called 4,449 days of waiting for the victims’ families.
“No amount of money could bring back our loved ones.”
The court found that negligence in Swiftair’s training had contributed to the disaster.
Investigators determined that the aircraft’s anti-icing system had not been activated while it was flying through a storm. Ice crystals subsequently formed on pressure sensors, causing an automatic reduction in engine power before the aircraft crashed. The plane was owned by Swiftair and leased to Air Algérie along with its Spanish crew.
Swiftair’s defence rejected the French investigation, describing the case as a “botched job”. Spanish prosecutors had previously closed their own investigation without bringing charges. The airline has 10 days to appeal the French ruling.
Sébastien Busy, a lawyer representing most of the victims, also welcomed the ruling. He said Swiftair would be required to cover legal costs, which could exceed the €225,000 fine.
