During the roll the tower controller reported that he saw fire on the starboard wing.

"A tower controller is not authorized to give such a clearance!"

On a different frequency, the Israir pilot was trying to contact the other tower controller.

"All right, that's the one that," said the tower controller, and then paused, "had a problem."

During the roll the tower controller reported that he saw a fire on the right hand wing.

Other terminal-area and tower controllers provide guidance at either end of the trip.

The tower controller eventually contacted the flight and cleared it to land.

The tower controller cleared the flight to land on runway 25 and gave the wind as 030deg at 8 knots.

The tower controller had his binoculars on the incoming aircraft.

This was noted by the tower controller, whose brother was a police reporter for a local paper.