The firm's aviation partners, James Healy-Pratt and Owen Hanna, are said to be "working closely" with around 20 British families in relation to the coronial process as well as the London lawyers appointed by Air India and its aviation insurers dealing with interim payments.
2 'Serious' Questions In Air India Plane Crash
"On the air safety aspects, our technical investigation team believes that the RAT was automatically deployed. This suggests a serious systems failure around the critical point of take-off," said Healy-Pratt, as quoted by PTI.
"We have focused on the reasons why the RAT deployed and the reasons why there was not enough thrust. Those are the two core issues our families need and want answers about, and that's what we hope the Black Boxes will reveal, and there'll be some mention of that in the preliminary accident report in 10 days' time," he said.
"Serious questions will need to be asked of both Air India and Boeing once the preliminary report is published in the coming weeks. The families of AI171 want truth and justice, and we stand in solidarity with them," he added.
Healy-Pratt said that it is an "incredibly sensitive time for the AI171 families." "We are supporting them through the various processes in the UK and the US," he added.