SWIFTAIR: APPEAL REPORTED OCTOBER 2
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Court decision of September 28, 2026

AH5017 crash: Swiftair convicted of involuntary manslaughter

The Paris Criminal Court found Spanish airline Swiftair guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the AH5017 crash case. The company was fined €225,000, the maximum penalty available.

Published September 28, 2026

Procedural update as of October 6, 2026

The court press release confirms the conviction and €225,000 fine. However, it is dated September 29, while its title in the official listing and press reports give September 28. This discrepancy remains unresolved. The release is a summary, not the full judgment.

Read the Paris court press release (PDF, 3 pages, French)

What the court press release states

The press release of the Paris judicial court (31st criminal chamber) summarises the judgment. It is not the full text of the decision.

Failings found against Swiftair, as worded in the press release

  • The captain did not attend the OPC (Operator Proficiency Check) training in the second half of 2012, which was to cover in-flight anti-icing systems and their limits. (press release, p. 1)
  • When flights resumed in 2014, neither the captain nor the co-pilot had the recent experience of three take-offs and landings required by regulations and by Swiftair’s manual. (press release, p. 1 and 2)
  • Crews had not been trained in stall recovery manoeuvres, a gap already noted in an IOSA audit in October 2013. (press release, p. 3)

Points rejected by the court

  • The absence of CRM (Crew Resource Management) training and the simulator session of 25 March 2014 were not found to be failings linked to the accident. (press release, p. 1)
  • Swiftair could not blame the manufacturer for insufficient information in order to escape liability. (press release, p. 2)
  • The ne bis in idem objection was rejected: since Spanish law does not allow a legal entity to be prosecuted for involuntary manslaughter, Swiftair faced no risk of double prosecution. (press release, p. 1)

Sentence and civil claims

  • Swiftair is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and fined €225,000. (press release, p. 3)
  • Amounts awarded: €55,248.31 and €1 for the volunteers’ commitment to the AH5017 Ensemble association, €10,000 to FENVAC, €1 to the ALTER union for moral damage, plus the parties’ costs and court costs. (press release, p. 3)

The press release mentions “the death of 114 people”; the difference with the toll of 116 victims has not been explained to date. (press release, p. 1)

Read the court press release (PDF, 3 pages, French)

Key facts

  • First-instance conviction and €225,000 fine on September 28, 2026; appeal announced October 2 according to AH5017-Ensemble, as reported by the press.
  • Swiftair was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
  • The court imposed a €225,000 fine, the maximum available.
  • The decision concerns the AH5017 crash, which killed 116 people on July 24, 2014.

At the court after the judgment

Un avocat en robe répond à une équipe de télévision dans le hall du tribunal
After the judgment, a lawyer speaks to the media at the Paris Judicial Court on September 28, 2026. Photo provided to AH5017.com.
Un avocat en robe échange avec des personnes près de la salle d’audience
Discussions near the courtroom after the September 28, 2026 judgment. Photo provided to AH5017.com.

Me Sébastien Busy reacts to the judgment

Me Sébastien Busy, counsel for the victims’ families and their associations, summarizes the decision handed down by the Paris Criminal Court and what it means for the families.

Statement recorded at the Paris Judicial Court on September 28, 2026. Original French audio with embedded English subtitles.
Open the dedicated video page
This is a satisfactory decision and clearly represents a great relief for the victims’ families.
Me Sébastien Busy, counsel for the victims’ families and their associations. Translation from the original French, September 28, 2026.

Transcript of the statement

English translation of the original statement delivered in French. Punctuation has been adapted for readability.

We have just received the decision handed down by the Paris Criminal Court in the trial of the company Swiftair, which operated a flight for Air Algérie between Burkina Faso and Algiers.

The Spanish company Swiftair has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The court held that the company had committed several faults in the training and monitoring of its pilots’ training, which did not enable them to identify the stall situation, and that no necessary action was taken to recover the aircraft.

The court also held that these faults were directly linked to the occurrence of the accident. For that reason, it found Swiftair guilty of involuntary manslaughter and fined the company €225,000, which is the maximum provided for under French criminal law.

It also ordered Swiftair to reimburse the French justice system for all the costs it incurred. It ruled on damages concerning, in particular, victims’ family associations.

This is a satisfactory decision and obviously represents, for the victims’ families, a great relief: to have a responsible party identified in this tragedy, which left so many countries and nationalities in mourning.

Reason reported by the press

According to consistent reports published on September 28, the court found that Swiftair’s negligence in the crew’s initial and recurrent training had contributed with certainty to the accident.

Background

On July 24, 2014, flight AH5017 from Ouagadougou to Algiers crashed near Gossi, Mali. All 110 passengers and six crew members died. The McDonnell Douglas MD-83 was operated by Swiftair and chartered by Air Algérie.

Distinct roles for Swiftair and Air Algérie

Swiftair operated the aircraft and supplied the crew. Air Algérie had chartered the aircraft for the route. The September 28 judgment concerns Swiftair’s criminal liability.

Companies involved and official websites

These links lead to the companies’ official websites. AH5017.com is not affiliated with either company.

Logo officiel de Swiftair

Swiftair

Swiftair operated the aircraft and supplied the crew. It was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and fined €225,000 on September 28, 2026.

Open official website
Logo officiel d’Air Algérie

Air Algérie

Air Algérie chartered the MD-83 for the Ouagadougou-Algiers route. Air Algérie is not the entity convicted by this judgment.

Open official website

Scope and limits

This summary is based on six consistent press reports published on the day of the judgment. The full decision was not found in the public sources consulted at publication time. Its detailed legal reasoning must be checked against the complete judgment when it becomes available.

Sources consulted

These six consistent reports state the same verdict and fine.

Articles published in the last 24 hours

Survey closed on September 28, 2026 at 12:23 p.m. Paris time, using Exa, Firecrawl and Parallel. It lists original press pages and identified republications since September 27 at 12:23 p.m. The web may continue to change.

After the judgment

Before the judgment