Paris court convicts Swiftair over 2014 Air Algérie crash in Mali

The Paris Criminal Court has convicted Spanish operator Swiftair of involuntary manslaughter over the crash of Air Algérie flight AH5017 in Mali, according to a ruling issued on September 28, 2026. All 116 people on board died when the aircraft went down in July 2014. The decision ends the first-instance stage of proceedings that took more than twelve years to reach a verdict.

Swiftair was tried as a legal entity in Paris from March 9 to March 26, 2026. Prosecutors asked the court to impose a fine of €225,000, the highest penalty French law allows against a company for involuntary manslaughter. Defence lawyers argued for acquittal and attributed the accident to outside factors.

French investigating magistrates who referred the case for trial identified shortcomings at the company, particularly in crew training. The safety investigation found that neither pilot had been trained or checked on approach-to-stall or stall recovery after joining Swiftair. Those exercises were set for a simulator session in November 2014, four months after the accident. Investigators could not determine when the pilots had last completed such training at their previous employer, Spanair.

Investigators also noted a comparable occurrence involving a different Swiftair MD-83 just 46 days before the disaster. On June 8, 2014, the aircraft EC-JUG began losing speed at FL330 with the autothrottle engaged. Its crew descended and switched on engine anti-icing before a stall developed, and the flight carried on normally.

Before the trial, Swiftair sought to have the French case stopped on double-jeopardy grounds, pointing to a provisional dismissal in Spain. In April 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled a referral from the Paris court inadmissible. A further bid by French judges to put questions to the CJEU was turned down in November 2025.

Swiftair may appeal the judgment.