Air France and Airbus to stand trial for crash causing death of Roscrea doctor Aisling Butler
Investigators found pilots had been asleep moments before the crash into the Atlantic
Air France and Airbus are to stand trial over the deaths of 228 passengers on board a Brazil to France flight which included the death of a young Roscrea doctor.
Dr Aisling Butler, 26, and her two friends, Jane Deasy (27) from Dublin and Eithne Walls (28) from Co Down all died in the crash on June 1 2009, from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.
A French court overturned a previous ruling that there should not be a trial.
Air France and Airbus are appealing the decision.
Ms Butler studied medicine with her two friends in Trinity College and remained friends after graduating in 2007.
The tragedy also claimed the life of Dublin-based Estonian Maksim Ivanova (25).
Investigators found that the two senior pilots were sleeping just moments before the airliner hit the Atlantic ocean and that the aircrew mishandled loss of speed readings from sensors during a storm, causing the aircraft to stall.