Fatal Air India crash probe 'far from over' says CEO days after prelim report

A month after an Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad the probe is far from over and it is unwise to jump to any premature conclusions, airline CEO Campbell Wilson said in an internal memo on Monday after the release of a preliminary report by investigators.

The memo, reviewed by Reuters, comes after the report depicted confusion in the cockpit shortly before the crash of the Boeing Dreamliner that killed 260 people. It said the plane's engine fuel cutoff switches flipped almost simultaneously and starved the engines of fuel.

"The release of the preliminary report marked the point at which we, along with the world, began receiving additional details about what took place. Unsurprisingly, it provided both greater clarity and opened additional questions," the memo said.

Wilson added: "The preliminary report identified no cause nor made any recommendations, so I urge everyone to avoid drawing premature conclusions as the investigation is far from over."

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for London from the Indian city of Ahmedabad began to lose thrust and sink shortly after takeoff, according to the report released by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau(AAIB).

The memo said the preliminary report found no mechanical or maintenance faults and that all required maintenance had been carried out.

The preliminary report, released on Saturday, suggested no immediate action for Boeing or GE, whose engines were fitted on to the aircraft.

The AAIB, an office under India's civil aviation ministry, is leading the probe into the crash, which killed all but one of the 242 people on board and 19 others on the ground.

Air India has come under heightened scrutiny on multiple fronts following the crash.

On July 4, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency said it would investigate budget unit Air India Express, after a Reuters report revealed the airline failed to promptly replace engine parts on an Airbus A320 as mandated, and falsified records to indicate compliance.

ALPA India, which represents Indian pilots at the Montreal-based International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations, rejected the presumption of pilot error in the Ahmedabad crash and called for a "fair, fact-based inquiry".

"The pilots body must now be made part of the probe, at least as observers," ALPA India President Sam Thomas told Reuters on Sunday.