Air France Flight 447 Crash

On June 1, 2009, Air France Flight 447, en route from Brazil — Rio de Janeiro to France — Paris, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 people onboard. The cause remained a mystery until 2011 when the black box was recovered. Investigations revealed that speed sensors iced over, disengaging the autopilot. In the ensuing confusion, pilots Air France Flight 447, David Robert, and Pierre-Cédric Bonin made the fatal error of pitching the aircraft upward instead of downward to correct a stall. The black box recorded their final moments of realization and despair. Autopsies suggested passengers likely survived the initial impact but drowned. In 2023, 14 years after the tragedy, both Airbus and Air France were acquitted of involuntary manslaughter charges.