A French judge has filed preliminary manslaughter charges against Airbus over the death of 228 people killed when an Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed in the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009. Although the black box has never been recovered, sensors on the aircraft are known to have sent faulty speed readings to pilots. The new charge has launched a new search for the data recorder on the ocean floor between Brazil and West Africa. Tom Enders, chief executive of Airbus, is convinced finding the recorder is the only was to reconstruct what happened on the flight. The search is being paid for jointly by Air France and Airbus and is estimated to cost $12.5 million.
AIRBUS FACING MANSLAUGHTER CHARGES
