MSGID: 2:292/854 19321915   
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   Air France and Airbus pleaded not guilty today to charges of involuntary   
   manslaughter in the 2009 A330 crash. More than 13 years after an Air France   
   plane with 228 people on board crashed into the sea en route from Rio de   
   Janeiro to Paris, the airline and the aircraft manufacturer face accusation in   
   a court of law.   
       
   All occupants of Flight AF447 were killed when the plane crashed into the   
   Atlantic Ocean during a storm in the early hours of June 1, 2009. It took two   
   years to recover the bodies and cockpit recorders, which were located at a   
   depth of approximately 4,000 meters. The crash was the deadliest in the   
   history of Air France. The Airbus A330 was carrying 12 crew members and 216   
   passengers.   
       
   Investigators determined that the crew was overwhelmed after the so-called   
   Pitot speed control tubes of the Airbus A330 became frozen, preventing hem   
   from providing clear readings. The families of the victims and some aviation   
   experts claim that the pilots were insufficiently trained to cope with the   
   loss of speed caused by the freezing of the crucial equipment. The problem of   
   the freezing of the Pitot tubes had already been reported by other pilots   
   before the crash. In the months following the accident, these tubes were   
   replaced worldwide. The crash also prompted a revision of pilot training   
   protocols.   
       
   The top executives of Air France and Airbus, Anne Rigail and Guillaume Faury,   
   expressed their condolences during the opening statement of the trial, which   
   will take about nine weeks. Families of several victims did not appreciate the   
   statement and shouted "shame" and "too little, too late" throughout the   
   argument.   
      
   --- DB4 - 20220519   
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