Yep, the controller was probably trying to help by switching to the longer runway but the swap was pretty late in the game. Both he and the crew were definitely busy in the last minute or so. Good call to stick with 27R on short final I would say.
You can hear the PNF giving a couple of voice calls over the radio (e.g. "500 feet, on speed, sink 8"), they had O2 masks on for the smoke at that point. The interphone/radio switches and usually a separate mask/mic switch have to be manipulated correctly in most planes when you have the masks on, a definite distraction in an emergency.
On the next part of the audio archives at 0000 local you can hear the tower report the almost immediate crew evacuation to the rescue personnel.
Last edited by Airbubba; 8th Feb 2006 at 22:06.