A Paris court has found Spain's Swiftair guilty of corporate manslaughter related to the 2014 Air Algerie crash in Mali that resulted in the deaths of 116 individuals. On September 28, 2026, a French judge imposed a maximum fine of 225,000 euros ($256,000) on the airline following a three-week trial earlier in the year.
Air Algerie Flight AH5017 was en route from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to Algiers, Algeria, when it crashed less than an hour after takeoff in July 2014, killing all passengers and crew on board. The McDonnell Douglas MD-83, owned by Swiftair, was being operated on behalf of the Algerian airline.
Investigators determined that the aircraft stalled due to ice accumulation while the anti-icing system was turned off. The court noted that negligence in Swiftair's training regarding icy conditions contributed to the incident. Specifically, the captain did not complete a sufficient proficiency check, and the crew had not undergone the necessary refresher flights after a period of inactivity.
Sebastien Busy, a lawyer for the victims' families, stated that the ruling provides relief to those who have sought justice for over 12 years. Swiftair has 10 days to appeal the decision. The airline previously sought to dismiss the trial, citing a lack of charges in a Spanish court. In a statement to AFP, Swiftair maintained that the trial was unwarranted and that it had adhered to safety regulations.
This ruling is significant as it marks the second instance in which an airline has been convicted of corporate manslaughter in France, following the convictions of Air France and Airbus earlier this year for the 2009 crash of a jetliner from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, which killed all 228 individuals on board.