Madam, – It is a source of both sadness and concern for us to observe the airing of unwarranted findings by “a source familiar with the inquiry” into the crash of ET409 (“ ‘Pilot error’ caused Ethiopian air crash”, World News, February 10th ).
The investigation into the real cause of the ET409 which crashed off Beirut on January 25th had only begun in earnest after the flight recorder was retrieved on February 7th and the equally important voice recorder resurfaced only on February 10th; which indicates clearly that the investigation is very much work in progress.
Therefore, to give in to knee-jerk reactions in the middle of an investigation serves no good but harm to all concerned.
Ethiopian Airlines, whose safety record is excellent and world acclaimed, has issued a statement stating that it is too early to reach a conclusion and pointing out the need to refrain from giving statements on ongoing investigation in line with existing international code of practice – International Civil Aviation Organisation’s Annex 13.
We believe all sides should exercise caution while patiently awaiting for the outcome of the investigation. – Yours, etc,