...which may well be explained by the approach procedure flown. They arrived from the east, so a circling approach via the north would almost certainly have taken them past the old airport. An attempt to land on the old runway, by mistake or intention, would have required a much lower profile than what is shown in the material.
The new airport has been in operation for... was it 2 weeks? Also, its fresh concrete runway that, from experience, is not built within a night or two is not exactly hard to see in severe CAVOK. I would hazard a guess and say that the crew not only has landed there before the accident flight but also was well aware of what airport they were supposed to land on.
An approach chart would probably save much speculation here. Unfortunately, I do not have access to any of that area of the world.
Edit:
One more point. Let us avoid one common trap here and give the deceased colleagues the benefit of the doubt. Details like place of birth, passport-issuing nation or location residence say nothing about collective aeronautical capabilities.
Last edited by Tu.114; 15th Jan 2023 at 18:55.