I see mentioned here about having a "Principal" nomination. If that in fact is true; and candidate is 100% qualified; then there's absolutely no reason not to expect an appointment. It is possible that the "Principal" nominee was deferred so the academy can see how they are going to handle a few others from the district/state and how the academy wants to move around nominations that are in common.
My suggestion: If an individual truly does have a "Principal" nomination, and their application is 100% qualified, then I suggest contacting your ALO. Have him/her check on your status and have them inquire with admissions the real status. Because once the dust settles, if in fact an individual has a Principal nomination and they are 100% qualified, the academy doesn't have a choice here. They have to give that individual an appointment. Unfortunately, on the forums, we don't always get all the information. We've even had some that were either told by their MOC staff incorrectly or they way they interpreted it, that they received a "Principal" nomination, when in fact the MOC didn't rank the actual slate at all. The individual may have been the MOC's "Best" applicant, but what they submitted to the academy for a slate of 10 names was in fact a "Competitive" list and not a ranked list or a Principal/Competitive list.
So check with your ALO. Verify you have a "Principal" nomination, and have your ALO do some investigating for you. Best of luck. Mike....