Says Board Wants To Complete Investigation 'Expeditiously'

In her final briefing for the media on site in San Francisco, NTSB Chairwoman Deborah A.P. Hersman said that she hopes to "expedite" the investigation that will lead to a probable cause for the Asiana Flight 214 accident last Saturday.

Hersman said that Runway 28L has been released back to the airport so that debris, which includes parts of the airplane as well as boulders from the seawall that the 777 hit as it came down, can be cleared. Investigators were still finishing up with the main fuselage, which was off to the side of the runway in a grassy area. She said the board's investigators were continuing to document the interior of the cabin. She said the airplane would be cut into segments for removal from the airport to a nearby “secure location.” That work began Thursday night and would continue "until it is completed."

Hersman said that the board normally takes 12 to 18 months before releasing a probable cause report from an accident, and outlined some of the challenges that are faced by the agency, as well as the extent of the work involved in completing its investigation. That said, she called the accident a "very significant event."

"We want to make sure that we complete this investigation as expeditiously as possible," she said. "It's going to be a high priority for our agency, and we look at getting close to or under that 12 month mark. But throughout the coming year, and in the coming weeks and days, if we identify any safety issues that we believe need to be addressed immediately, we can issue recommendations, and those recommendations can come at any time."

Hersman said that there will be a determination "within the next few months whether to convene an investigative hearing."

(Image from NTSB YouTube video.)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov