PARIS—A French court on Monday acquitted Airbus and Air France of manslaughter charges over the 2009 crash of Flight 447 from Rio to Paris, prompting an outpouring of anguish from people whose loved ones were killed in a disaster that led to lasting changes in aircraft safety measures.
Some erupted in sobs, others listened in stunned silence as the presiding judge read out the decision, a devastating defeat for families of the 228 victims, who fought for 13 years to see the case reach court.
The three-judge panel ruled that there wasn’t enough evidence of a direct link between decisions by the companies and the crash. The official investigation found that multiple factors contributed to the disaster, including pilot error and the icing over of external sensors called pitot tubes….