US official says Air India crash report suspecting pilot error ‘premature’
NTSB chief Homendy said investigations of this magnitude take time amid reports that the captain cut the flow of fuel to the plane’s engines
“Investigations of this magnitude take time,” NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said on Friday in a social media post. She called recent media reports “premature and speculative”, without providing any specifics on what exactly she was referring to.
The AAIB and Air India CEO Campbell Wilson have also urged the public not to draw conclusions while the investigation is ongoing.
It can take a year – sometimes longer – for authorities to release a final report laying out the probable cause of an accident and recommendations for avoiding future tragedies.
A preliminary report released by the AAIB found two fuel control switches on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner were moved to a “cut-off” position immediately after the aircraft lifted off, starving the engines of fuel. While the move was reversed about 10 seconds later, it was too late to avert the crash.