Originally Posted by
DaveReidUK
Per the link in post #1:
"Air France and Airbus face potential fines of up to €225,000 – a fraction of their annual revenues – but they could suffer damage to their reputations if found criminally responsible.
Both companies have denied any criminal negligence, and investigating magistrates overseeing the case dropped the charges in 2019, attributing the crash mainly to pilot error."
Yes, it's a fully criminal trial. But, as the defendents are corporations not individuals, the consequences of any guilty verdicts are effectively civil (fines etc). The original charges were dropped in 2019, as stated. But a collection of victims' families (which I think may include the pilots' - but I'm not sure) appealed that decision all the way up to the French "Supreme Court", and won. Charges were ordered to be re-instated, and this is now the trial as a result of that.