Apparent gaps in AAIB’s preliminary report means that while a key factor in the disaster—cutting of the fuel supply—has been confirmed, not much else has. FAA’s insistence that the accident does not change its evaluation of the fuel switch problems counters the only switch-related technical issue discussed in the report.

Last month, 260 people were killed when Air India’s Flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8, crashed on its way to London Gatwick due to failed engine fuel control switches. The flight crashed on June 12 shortly after taking off, killing 241 out of the 242 people on board, along with 19 people on the ground.