Air France victim's family considers legal action against airline

Updated
Air France victim's family considers legal action against airline
Air France victim's family considers legal action against airline

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The family of a doctor who was killed in the Air France crash in 2009 is considering taking legal action against the airline.

His decision comes just a day after the investigation revealed that the disaster was caused by both human and technical errors.

John Butler's daughter Aisling, from County Tipperary in Ireland, was flying home form a holiday in Brazil with her friends when the aircraft crashed into the Atlantic.

"Whatever we need to do we'll do it", her father told The Irish Independent reports.

The final report on the crash, which was released on Thursday, makes 25 new safety recommendations, including better training for pilots and stricter plane certification rules.

It took air investigators two years to find most of the plane - including the black box, containing the flight recorders.

The report concluded that the aircraft's speed sensors (Pitot tubes) were not working at the time, and that the co-pilots did not make the necessary manoevers to save the plane from falling into the sea.

Since the crash, Air France has replaced its Pitot tubes with a newer model. The airline has insisted that the pilots were not to blame, saying the stall alarm had malfunctioned.

Announcing the report findings, chief investigator Alain Bouillard said that only a well-experienced crew with a clear understanding of the situation could have stabilised the plane in the conditions. "In this case, the crew was in a state of near-total loss of control," he said.

Family members of the passengers who died in the crash have shown sympathy towards the pilots, saying they were dealing with bad equipment in an exceptionally challenging situation, with dozens of warning signals going off.

A report from the Press Association says that one family member, Robert Soulas, who lost his daughter and son-in-law in the crash, noted that manufacturers had known for years about problems with the plane's speed sensors freezing over but did not order the faulty models to be systematically replaced until after the crash.

Both Air France and Airbus are being investigated in a separate judicial investigation for alleged manslaughter.

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