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Technical and Legal Glossary

Safety-investigation findings are distinguished from allegations in the criminal proceedings.

Key Players in the AH5017 Case

Air Algérie

🇩🇿 National airline

Founded: 1947 | Hub : Algiers-Houari Boumediene

Destinations: 47 international, 33 domestic

Certifications: IOSA (2006-2017), ISO 9001-2008, EASA 145

Major accidents: Flight 6289 (2003, 103 deaths), Flight 5017 (2014, 116 deaths)

Role AH5017: Commercial carrier under its flight number within an ACMI contract; Swiftair supplied the aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance and operated the flight under its own certificate

IOSA 2017IATA1★/7 (2020)

Sources officielles :

Official Air Algérie website Malian investigation report

Swiftair

🇪🇸 Charter & Wet lease

Founded: 1986 | Employees: ~400

Fleet: 30+ aircraft | Specialty: Wet lease

AH5017 Aircraft: MD-83 EC-LTV (18 years)

Accidents: AH5017 (2014), Montpellier (2022), Vilnius (2024)

AH5017 proceedings: Swiftair was convicted of involuntary manslaughter on September 28, 2026 and fined €225,000.

Indicted 2017Involuntary manslaughterConvicted in 2026

Sources officielles :

Reuters: September 28 conviction Le Monde Investigation

Legal context: Following the March 9–26, 2026 trial, the Paris Criminal Court convicted Swiftair of involuntary manslaughter on September 28, 2026 and fined it €225,000. The judgment concerns Swiftair and is not a criminal conviction of Air Algérie.

11 terms found

Autothrottle

Aviation technology

Automatic thrust-control system. Erroneous EPR values caused it to limit thrust while speed decreased until the stall.

Sources:

Official case page Final report

CVR

Flight recorders

Cockpit voice recorder. The AH5017 CVR was damaged and contained no usable data.

Sources:

Official case page Final report

Engine anti-icing

Aviation technology

System intended to prevent ice accumulation in engine air inlets. The report states that these systems were not activated while crossing the cloud area.

Sources:

Official case page Final report

Engine Pt2 pressure sensors

Aviation technology

Sensors measuring total pressure at each engine inlet. According to the final report, they were probably obstructed by ice crystals, producing erroneous EPR values. This was not a Pitot-probe obstruction.

Sources:

Official case page Final report

EPR (Engine Pressure Ratio)

Aviation technology

Pressure ratio used to set and monitor thrust. Probable obstruction of the Pt2 sensors produced erroneous EPR values and the autothrottle limited thrust.

Sources:

Official case page Final report

FDR

Flight recorders

Flight-parameter recorder. The AH5017 FDR was usable and helped reconstruct the technical sequence.

Sources:

Official case page Final report

Involuntary manslaughter

Legal proceedings

Offence of which Swiftair was convicted on September 28, 2026. The Paris Criminal Court fined the company €225,000.

Sources:

France 24 RFI AFP

Prosecution request

Legal proceedings

Penalty requested by the prosecution. In the Swiftair trial, it requested a €225,000 fine. A prosecution request is not a conviction.

Sources:

France 24 RFI AFP

Safety investigation

Technical investigation

Investigation conducted by the Malian commission with technical assistance from the BEA. It is intended to prevent future accidents and does not determine fault or liability. The 169-page final report was published on April 22, 2016.

Sources:

Official case page Final report

Stall

Aviation technology

Loss of lift caused by an excessive angle of attack. The report describes a speed decrease until the stall, followed by the absence of appropriate recovery actions.

Sources:

Official case page Final report

Wet lease

Air operations

Charter arrangement in which the aircraft and crew are provided by the operator. Flight AH5017 was marketed by Air Algérie and operated by Swiftair with a Swiftair MD-83 and crew.

Sources:

Official case page Final report

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