There are three landing approaches for runway 10 and depending on the course the pilot of a flight decides to take, landing clearance to all flights are given at a height between 2,200 and 2,500 feet above mean sea level. The descent of the aircraft there of is done by the pilot and the plane's path is monitored by the controllers. The AN-32 never made it to the runway. The controller on duty apparently tried to make radio contact with the pilot. Information of the crash was given to the ATC by another aircraft that had seen the debris ofthe AN-32.

``As per the initial information we have, the ATC lost contact with the aircraft at around 8.17 a.m.,'' says V Sridhar, airport director. ``The crash obviously happened minutes after that. However, since all records have been sealed, there is no further information available.''

Apparently, after radio contact was lost with the AN-32, the ATC control room sent a jeep to runway 10 to check if the flight had already landed. The aircraft had crash landed by then. The spokesperson of the Air Traffic Controller's Guild (ATCO) has said that the runway the aircraft was scheduled to land on is the secondary runway. The CAT II ILS recently installed on the main runway is reportedly not functioning properly and hence the secondary runway was frequently used.

Immediately following information of the crash, the airport was closed for over an hour. Between 8.50 a.m. and 10.20 a.m. there were no landings or take-offs from the airport. ``Following the crash, all our fire tenders were rushed to the spot,''explains Sridhar. ``Our operational procedures specify that there has to be at least one stand-by fire tender at the airport when the runway is in use.''