Paris court fines Swiftair €225,000 over deaths of 116 people — TimesLIVE

The Paris Criminal Court in France found Spanish company Swiftair guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the case of the 2014 Air Algérie flight crash in northern Mali. The company was ordered to pay the maximum fine of €225,000. All 116 people on board were killed in the crash.

Court ruling

As reported by TimesLIVE, the court made its decision after a three-week hearing earlier this year. Swiftair denied the charges and sought to halt the proceedings, arguing that a Spanish court had already closed the case. The company has 10 days to appeal the verdict. It did not provide an immediate comment after the decision was announced.

Circumstances of the crash

The Swiftair-owned MD-83 aircraft, which was operating a flight for Air Algérie, crashed less than an hour after taking off from Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. About half of those killed were French citizens.

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According to investigators, the aircraft lost control after icing because its anti-icing system remained switched off. Prosecutors argued that Swiftair pilots were inadequately trained for flying in icing conditions and for dealing with unstable instrument readings. The company, in turn, pointed to shortcomings in regulations and instructions.

The court rejected some of the prosecution's arguments regarding inadequate training, but stated that the aircraft's captain had not undergone a proper qualification check and that the crew had not completed the required number of refresher flights after a period without flying.