A manslaughter trial against a French airline has started 14 years on from a crash that killed 228 people including three Irish women.
Starting in Paris yesterday, the nine-week trial against Air France and Airbus will examine the events of the 2009 flight from Rio de Janeiro which crashed into the Atlantic during thunderstorms.
Dr Eithne Walls (28) from Saintfield in Co Down, Dr Aisling Butler (26) from Co Tipperary and Dr Jane Deasy (27) from Dublin were among those who lost their lives.
A total of 33 nationalities were on board with families from around the world among the plaintiffs who have fought for over a decade to bring the case to trial.
The initial search for the wreckage and black box recorders took two years using remote-controlled submarines at a depth of 13,000ft.
Investigators had concluded the pilots wrongly handled a loss of data from frozen sensors, causing the 205-tonne jet to freefall without responding to numerous stall alerts.
It also emerged that Air France and Airbus had been made aware of issues with the sensors and had started upgrading their aircraft only six days before the disaster.
Both companies will face a maximum penalty of €225,000 if they are convicted, although larger sums have already been paid out in compensation.
Some families have also called for individual managers in the companies to be put on trial.
Differences between the two companies are expected to be highlighted during the trial, with the plane maker putting the blame on pilot error with the airline to focus on confusing sensor data.
Although investigators had called for the case to be dropped, judges overruled the decision and sent the case to court.
