Air France and Airbus must stand trial over the 2009 crash which killed all 228 people on board when it fell into the Atlantic ocean. 

Flight AF447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris plunged into the Atlantic Ocean during a storm on June 1, 2009, the deadliest crash in Air France's history. The airline and plane maker will now face involuntary manslaughter charges. 

The appeals court followed the general prosecutor's recommendation, overturning an earlier court decision to drop the case.

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It took two years to find the wreckage of the Airbus A330 jet, which was finally located by remote-controlled submarines at a depth of 3,900 meters.

Investigators determined the crash was caused by pilot error, after the crew was disorientated by faulty speed monitoring equipment.

But prosecutors accuse Air France of indirectly causing the deaths by providing insufficient training on how to react in case of malfunction of the so-called "Pitot tubes," which enable pilots to monitor their speed.

The pilots reacted incorrectly when the plane stalled after the speed sensors froze as it flew through a large cloud at high altitude.

Lawyers for Airbus and Air France denied any criminal liability. 

"It's a huge satisfaction to feel that we have finally been heard by the courts," Daniele Lamy, president of an association of victims' families said.