Airbus faces manslaughter probe over Rio-Paris crash

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The move came after investigating magistrate Sylvie Zimmerman summoned Airbus and Air France to appear in court to be possibly placed under judicial investigation.

"I can confirm that the investigative magistrates have put Airbus 'en examen'," the European plane manufacturer's boss Thomas Enders said following the court hearing, using a French legal term meaning there is a case to be answered in court.

The crash has been partly blamed on malfunctioning speed sensors used by Airbus, with Air France accused of not responding quickly enough to reports that they might be faulty. Air France is to appear in court on Friday.

"We don't know what this calling into question of Airbus is based on, the judge didn't detail the grievances against Airbus, which is regrettable," said Airbus lawyer Simon Ndiaye.

The announcement came ahead of the resumption of a search for the plane's wreckage in the Atlantic due on March 20 using a German mini-submarine.

So far only three per cent of the plane and around 50 bodies have been found from the wreckage.

"We are very satisfied with this decision because Airbus will be more careful with this aircraft," Nelson Marinho, the head of an association representing families of the victims, told AFP in Rio de Janeiro.

"We also know that the maintenance of the planes was defective," he said.

No charges have yet been brought in the case, which had been suspended until the plane's black box flight recorders was found.

A third search of the ocean floor to try to locate the black boxes ended in failure last May.

Enders said: "We strongly disagree with this position, we think it's premature.

"Nevertheless, we'll strongly support the investigation and we particularly support the next search of the black boxes because we are convinced that only behind the black boxes we'll be able to reconstruct what really happened."

Flight 447 from Rio to Paris went down roughly midway between Brazil and Senegal on June 1, 2009, in the deadliest crash in Air France's history.

The crash claimed the lives of all 228 people on board, of more than 30 nationalities. Most of those killed were French, Brazilian and German.

Air France in December was ordered to pay $727,000 (540,000 euros) to relatives of a Brazilian family that died in the accident.

The airline, through its insurers, had made compensation payments to the relatives of the passengers and crew, but continues to defend itself from litigation in Brazil.