An audio recording of communications between the pilot of the Bangladeshi plane that crashed, killing at least 49 people, and the control tower at Kathmandu Airport has emerged, revealing confusion over which runway the aircraft was meant to land on.
At the beginning of the recording posted on LiveATC.net, both the pilot and the air traffic control tower can be heard confirming the aircraft should land on runway 02, pointing north. The pilot is then told to change their flight path to land on runway 20, which points south.
"BanglaStar211, you were given a landing clearance to runway 02. You are going towards runway 20."
As the conversation continues, there's even more confusion as to which aircraft has been cleared to land, with the controller speaking to BanglaStar211 and BanglaStar212 at the same time.
Towards the end of the recording, the controller appears to be yelling at the aircraft, but it's too late.
The controller then informs all aircraft: "Airport is closed."
US-Bangla Airlines chief executive Imran Asif says traffic control is to blame.
"There were wrong directions from the tower," he told media. "Our pilot was not at fault."
Newshub.
