Swiftair (WT, Madrid Barajas) has been found guilty of corporate manslaughter at the Paris Criminal Court over the July 2014 crash of an MD-83 it operated for Air Algérie, with the court imposing the EUR225,000 euro (USD255,300) maximum fine permitted under French law for involuntary homicide, Reuters reports.

Swiftair has 10 days to appeal the September 28, 2026, verdict, which followed a three-week trial earlier this year.

ch-aviation has contacted the Spanish ACMI specialist for comment.

In a statement carried by Reuters and Agence France-Presse (AFP), the airline maintained: "Our safety protocols and pilot training programmes complied with applicable regulations and standards. We will take the time to carefully review the decision with our legal counsel before determining any further action."

Swiftair had denied the charges and attempted to have the case halted at the trial's opening, arguing that a parallel judicial investigation in Spain was provisionally closed in 2016, citing no evidence of wrongdoing by the airline.

The aircraft, EC-LTV (msn 53190), owned by Swiftair and wet leased to Air Algérie, crashed in northern Mali less than an hour after departing Ouagadougou for Algiers on July 24, 2014. All 116 people on board Flight AH5017, including 54 French nationals, were killed.

The findings

According to AFP, the French court ruled that "negligence" by Swiftair in the training and education of the crew "certainly contributed to the accident".

Investigators determined that the aircraft entered a stall after ice accumulation while its anti-icing system remained switched off. Prosecutors had alleged that Swiftair was negligent in training its pilots to deal with icing and unreliable flight data.

The court rejected some of the prosecution's allegations regarding inadequate training but found that the captain had not undergone a proper proficiency check and that the crew had not completed the required number of refresher flights following a period of inactivity.

The families of the victims have welcomed the verdict after more than 12 years of legal proceedings. "This is a satisfactory decision and obviously a great relief for the families of the victims," commented Sébastien Busy, their legal representative.

The precedent

According to Reuters, the verdict marks only the second French corporate manslaughter conviction involving an airline. In a precedent-setting judgement in May 2026, the Paris Court of Appeal found Air France and Airbus solely and entirely responsible for the June 1, 2009, crash that killed 228 people on board Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro International to Paris CDG. The court had imposed the maximum EUR225,000 fine on each company, overturning their 2023 acquittal. Both have appealed to the Court of Cassation.