MSGID: 2:292/854 1c394432   
   TZUTC: 0200                     
   The French public prosecutor is appealing against a ruling that acquits   
   aircraft manufacturer Airbus and airline Air France of blame for a plane crash   
   with an Airbus A330-200 off the coast of Brazil. A French court ruled earlier   
   this month in a case involving a flight that crashed in 2009.   
       
   That flight was on its way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris and ran into problems   
   in a storm over the Atlantic Ocean. So-called Pitot speed control tubes froze,   
   preventing the pilots from getting clear speed readings. They lost speed, but   
   did not notice it in time.   
       
   Relatives of the 12 crew members and 216 passengers who died had sued Airbus   
   and Air France for involuntary manslaughter. They claim, along with some   
   aviation experts, that the pilots were insufficiently trained to cope with the   
   loss of speed. In addition, the problem of the frozen tubes would have been   
   known before the crash.   
       
   The problem of freezing the Pitot tubes on Airbus A330 aircraft 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   
   review of pilot training protocols.   
       
   The judge found that both companies had been negligent on some points. But   
   those cases were not serious enough for a conviction. "A probable causal   
   relationship is not enough," the judges said. It is striking that precisely   
   the Public Prosecution Service had argued for acquittal, but is now appealing.   
       
   Alain Jakubowicz, lawyer on behalf of a number of relatives, says that there   
   is "enormous relief" about this "very rare decision by the Public Prosecution   
   Service". "The determination of the families will be even greater. This gives   
   us great hope," said Jakubowicz.   
      
   --- DB4 - 20230201   
    * Origin: AVIATION ECHO HQ (2:292/854)   
   SEEN-BY: 1/123 15/0 80/1 90/1 105/81 106/201 123/131 129/305 153/7715   
   SEEN-BY: 221/1 226/30 227/114 229/110 112 113 307 317 400 426 428   
   SEEN-BY: 229/470 664 700 280/464 282/1038 292/854 8125 301/1 317/3   
   SEEN-BY: 320/219 322/757 335/364 342/200 396/45 460/58 633/280 712/848   
   PATH: 292/854 229/426