Relatives of victims of the 2014 Air Algérie crash have welcomed a Paris court ruling finding Spanish airline Swiftair guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Sandrine Tricot, who lost her husband Frederic Tricot in the crash, told the BBC it was a relief to finally have a verdict after “4,449 days of waiting for the victims’ families”.
The French court on Monday fined the airline €225,000 ($256,000; £193,000), the maximum penalty, over the crash that killed all 116 people on board flight AH5017 from the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou, to Algeria’s main airport in Algiers.
Swiftair’s defence rejected the French investigation, describing the case as “a botched job”.
Spanish prosecutors had previously closed their own investigation without bringing any charges.
The airline has 10 days to appeal.
The court said “negligence” in Swiftair’s training had “certainly contributed to the accident”.
The McDonnell Douglas MD-83, owned by Swiftair and leased to Air Algérie with its crew, crashed in northern Mali on 24 July 2014.
Those killed included 54 French citizens, 23 Burkinabè nationals, as well as Lebanese and Algerian passengers and six Spanish crew members.
The crash happened as the aircraft flew through a storm in the semi-arid Sahel region, south of the Sahara Desert.
Investigators found that the anti-icing system had not been activated, causing ice crystals to form on pressure sensors. This led to an automatic reduction in engine power and the subsequent crash.
The trial opened in Paris in March, more than 12 years after the disaster.
Nathalie Police, who lost her 65-year-old father Didier and her 18-year-old half-brother Nicolas, attended the entire four-week trial.
Outside the court on Monday, she stood alongside Tricot. Both welcomed the ruling.
“The amount of money was never the end goal. We are relieved that justice has finally been delivered,” Tricot told the BBC.
“No amount of money could bring back our loved ones.”
Tricot heads the French national federation for victims of terrorist attacks and collective accidents, which joined the case as a civil party.
She said it had been difficult to coordinate with families in Algeria and Burkina Faso who also lost relatives, but hoped the ruling would bring them some peace.
“The conviction is an important step towards recognising criminal responsibility for the disaster.”
Sébastien Busy, a lawyer representing most of the victims, described the conviction as a relief. He said Swiftair would also have to cover legal costs, which could exceed the €225,000 fine.
