Paris court finds Swiftair guilty over 2014 Mali crash that killed 116

Spain’s Swiftair was fined 225,000 euros ($256,000) in France for corporate manslaughter over the 2014 Air Algerie disaster in Mali.

A Paris court has found Swiftair guilty of corporate manslaughter over the 2014 Air Algerie crash that killed 116 people in northern Mali.

On Monday, a French judge ordered the Spanish airline to pay the maximum fine in France of 225,000 euros ($256,000) for corporate manslaughter after a three-week trial earlier this year.

Air Algerie Flight AH5017 was flying from Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, to Algiers, Algeria when it crashed less than an hour after takeoff in July 2014, killing everyone on board.

The Swiftair-owned McDonnell Douglas MD-83 was operated by the Spanish airline on behalf of the Algerian carrier.

Investigators said the aircraft went into a stall when it was hit ‌by ⁠ice as an anti-icing system remained switched off.

On Monday, the court ⁠said “negligence” in Swiftair’s training with icy conditions had played a role.

The captain had failed to complete an adequate proficiency check, while the crew lacked the required refresher flights following a period of inactivity.

“This ruling comes as a relief to families who have been fighting for more than 12 years for justice to be done,” said Sebastien Busy, a lawyer representing a group of relatives.

The airline has 10 days to appeal the ruling.

Swiftair attempted to have the trial dropped on the grounds that a Spanish court previously dismissed the case without any charges.

In a statement to AFP, Swiftair reiterated that the trial should not have gone ahead and that safety regulations had been followed.

The ruling marks the second time an airline has been found guilty of corporate manslaughter in France after Air France and Airbus were both ⁠found guilty earlier this year over the 2009 crash of a jetliner flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. The crash killed all 228 people on board, marking the worst aviation disaster in French history.