>>That Avweb article is full of inaccuracies, therefore I really wouldnt believe the part about the flares either.<<
Yeah and we shouldn't believe any of this article either I suppose. I'm sure the Saudi papers had "reliable" coverage of this mistake on the part of Indian ATC.
"Saudi plane strays on to IAF base
A Saudi Arabian Airline Boeing 747 with 331 passengers and 17 crew members strayed from its flight path and landed at the Tambaram IAF station instead of the Chennai International Airport on Monday morning. The pilot ignored the "red signal'' cartridges fired by the IAF personnel to indicate that he was not to land there. Four tyres of the Boeing burst as it landed with a thud and the pilot jammed on the brakes to halt at the end of the secondary runway of the defence airfield at 6-44 a.m. None of the passengers or the crew was hurt. The flight was coming to Chennai from Riyadh and Dahran. Earlier, the Air Force radar controller had spotted the civilian aircraft and asked the air traffic controllers at the Chennai airport to direct it away from the restricted zone. The Chennai airport replied that there was a problem with its radar and that it would instruct the Saudi pilot suitably. The Saudi jet, however, reappeared over the IAF area at a height of about 2000 feet. It disappeared even as another message was conveyed to the Chennai airport by the IAF, only to come in again for a landing proper. The pilot, Capt. Khayyat, ignored the "red signal'' cartridges fired in the air to signal refusal of permission to land. The passengers complained later that it was a five-hour ordeal for them, trapped inside the plane in the summer heat."
http://www.indiaserver.com/thehindu/...b01.htm#Story5