As a Jet Airways flight from Hyderabad approached Tirupati airport in Andhra Pradesh, its pilot was alarmed when he received no instructions from its control tower, where two air traffic controllers would normally guide them to a safe landing. Instead, he was eventually greeted by an airport fireman ordered into the control tower by an official after it emerged that two senior controllers due on duty had either overslept of failed to call in sick. The fireman, known as Basha, was sent to the tower by the airport's deputy general manager who issued instructions on how to guide the pilot by phone. Despite successfully guiding the plane to safety and possibly saving dozens of lives, the fireman has yet to be recognised as a hero while airport bosses announced they would be taking disciplinary action against air traffic control officers for dereliction of duty. Airport Authority official D Devaraj told The Daily Mail Today: "No-one doubts Basha's intention to help during a crisis. He wanted the flight to land safely. But he is untrained and must not attempt to do the ATC's job. Mere good intention is not enough in this case. The errant air traffic controllers however had no excuse. What will you do when you fall sick and not able to go to office? You will inform office that you won't be coming in. That is what happened at Tirupati," he added.