There is still a mystery, and we are churning this around and around. Surely by now there are enough known facts from the crew, AC & FAA to publish a definitive report. There were no deaths and everyone is available to state their case. Have I missed it, or has an interim/final report been published. [/QUOTE]
Good on yer, RAT5, I hope I got your handle right, and that I don't get kicked out on probation for incompetent quoting technique.
Even if there are no PhD rocket scientists currently available to work on this file, there is NO WAY it needs to take the customary 1 to 2 years for a credible investigation report. A really thorough, competent report on this near tragedy would be of tremendous benefit to countless people involved in aviation, both airborne and groundbound, but especially for younger pilots coming up. Even now, with few "details", it it appears to be a compelling example of a "there, but for the grace of God, go I" type of story.
It seems to me that this is an (unenviable) opportunity for the pilots involved to transition from (apparent) zero to hero if they summon all of the courage and integrity they have, and bare their souls to the investigators. Under the circumstances, few of us, myself included, would likely have the guts to do that, but I for one would deeply admire them if they got everything out into the open to help educate all of us about what not to do, and about what to watch for, both externally, and within ourselves.
I'm neither a pilot nor a controller, but I'm 60 and I put in 37 years at QFE at a northern Canadian airport doing work that many controllers seemed to regard as being inferior, (but not the ones who had paid their dues themselves in the North).