The confusion was about Runway 02 (the southern end) and Runway 20 (the northern end), a Nepalese newspaper has reported.
Even as the Bombardier aircraft is on approach, the Nepali pilots of other aircraft are heard warning the ATC that the US-Bangla pilot seems disoriented, according to the Nepali Times.
It has reported the Nepali pilots of the other aircraft are heard saying the pilot of the Bangladeshi plane should be assisted by radar and taken out of harm’s way, and that the visibility in the hills is bad.At the very outset of the tape, the control tower is heard warning the pilot, “I say again, do not proceed towards Runway 20.” And later, he is warned to remain on hold and not to land because there is another aircraft on approach.
After the US-Bangla plane, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, apparently takes a right orbit, the ATC asks the pilot whether he wants to land on Runway 02 or 20. The latter responds and says “We would like to land on 20”; he is cleared to land on that end of the runway.
The US-Bangla pilot is then asked if he has the runway in sight, to which he replies, “Negative”.
He is asked to turn right, but immediately after that, the Flight 211 pilot says “Affirmative”, that the runway is in sight.At that point, the pilot says, “Cleared to land Runaway 02”, even though he had sought permission for 20. However, ATC too now clears him to land on Runway 02.
Meanwhile, speaking to the Army 53 aircraft which is on hold about 10 kilometres away, the ATC says the Bangladesh aircraft is “on final for 20”.The last recorded words of the US-Bangla pilot is: “[Unintelligible] said sir, are we cleared to land?” After some silence, the clearly alarmed ATC controller shouts, “I say again, turn…!”.
There is silence for a while, then a ‘Fire One’ calls the tower, indicating that a crash has occurred and the airport fire tender has been activated.
One Nepali pilot comes on to ask if the runway is closed, and the ATC confirms, “Runway closed.”
At least 49 of the 71 people on board the US-Bangla plane died after it crashed on Monday afternoon.
The 67 passengers on board included 32 Bangladeshis, 33 Nepalese, a Chinese and a Maldivian. There were also four crew members on board the plane.