Black box recording of deadly Rio-Paris flight to be played in court

The judge overseeing the trial against Air France and Airbus for involuntary homicide in the fatal 2009 crash of a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris has agreed to allow the recording from the black box flight recorder to be heard behind closed doors.

An AF447 Rio-Paris flight data recorder is displayed during a press conference on May 12, 2011, at the French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety headquarters north of Paris. AFP - MEHDI FEDOUACH

The judge agreed to a request of the victims' families, who had asked for the audio of the cockpit voice recorder, with the last four minutes of the flight before it crashed into the Atlantic, to be entered as evidence.

The recording will be played for the court and those involved, but not for the public or the press, while those in the room will be required to shut off any mobile phones or recording devices.

One of the lawyers for the association representing victims’ families told the court on Wednesday that hearing the recording would be difficult, but was "absolutely necessary" in the "search for the truth that drives all of us”.

Who is to blame?

Air France flight 447 stalled during a storm on its way to Paris from Rio on 1 June 2009 and crashed into the Atlantic. All 228 people on board were killed – 216 passengers and 12 crew, including 61 French citizens.

The trial opened Monday, with Air France accused of insufficiently training the pilots who became disoriented by the weather, and Airbus for underestimating the gravity of a defective speed monitoring probe on the A330, which was later replaced on planes around the world.

The two companies deny responsibility.

The black boxes were found nearly two years after the crash, 3,900 metres underwater in May 2011.

The flight data recorder provided information about the speed of the plane when it went down, and the voice recording showed investigators that the pilots were confused about what was happening in the minutes before the crash.

While lawyers on both sides received a transcript of the recording, no one has heard it.

Lawyers for the pilots, as well for Air France, did not oppose the release of the recording in the trial provided it was not played for the public.

The last four minutes

During the first few days of the trial, experts who worked on the investigation testified about examining the black boxes and piecing together what happened in the last minutes of the flight, which ended when the aircraft hit the ocean at 300 kilometres an hour.

After their explanations, they broadcast a 4.5 minute digital reconstruction of the crash, which played to a silent courtroom.

During cross investigations, one expert revealed disagreements with the three others on certain parts of the report, though his conclusions clearly still point to the responsibility of Air France and Airbus.

The trial is due to run through 8 December.

(with wires)