• 24
  • June
    2011

After an accident, an investigation is opened to determine what caused the crash. When a large-scale accident occurs, such as a commercial plane crash, the investigation can take months if not years to sort through the wreckage and piece together the events that led up to the crash.

A plane crash that occurred in June of 2009 is still under investigation. Only just recently were salvage ships able to recover the rest of the victims' bodies and more pieces of the plane from the bottom of the ocean. The accident occurred when an Air France plane went down over the Atlantic Ocean, killing more than 200 people.

A number of families from the United States lost loved ones in the crash. After the accident, the families sought to bring a lawsuit against several plane part manufacturers, including Honeywell and GE, located in the U.S. But a federal judge in California has ruled that they cannot take legal action here in the States.

Instead, in order to seek compensation, the families must file claims in France. The judge gave several reasons as to why France was the proper forum:

  • French authorities are still investigating the crash
  • French companies have been indicted for involuntary manslaughter while no American companies have been
  • French authorities have all the wreckage and evidence in custody in France

At this point, it has taken more than two years to finally retrieve information from the flight data recorders as well as the cockpit recorders. However an official report about the causes of the crash is anticipated to be released next month.

Source: AFP online, "US families must sue in France over 2009 crash," 17 June 2011