Originally Posted by
RiSq
I’d hazard a guess that the ATCO has seen the first approach and subsequent sparks. When the pilot initially declares the emergency the ATCO asks about the belly landing as he is still target fixated on what he saw.
If he'd seen the pod strike and sparks, and whether or not he had it would be hard to miss the smoke trails on climb-out, did the ATCO tell the aircraft they'd struck the runway? If not, why not?