Start With the Crane Computer and Your Current Prompts
The hangar changes your job from searching passengers to moving entire cargo loads. A misplaced crate or an ignored malfunction can turn that change of pace into damaged freight. Airport Contraband crane controls begin at the crane computer: activate the crane, use the displayed controls to position it over the cargo, grip the crate, and move it to the destination shown by the cargo assignment.
Check the prompts in your installed build before copying an old keyboard guide. Hotfix #2, published October 29, specifically adjusted crane control bindings for both keyboard and controller. The collected patch notes confirm that change without publishing a complete replacement key map.
Follow the Arrival or Departure Direction
Read the cargo brief before moving anything. The developer's July announcement describes a daily brief that identifies how many shipments need transferring between the aircraft and the waiting truck. The tutorial footage also distinguishes a load's crate count from the total loads scheduled for a plane.
Recorded prerelease player experience shows these two directions:
| Cargo stage | Recorded destination and follow-up |
|---|---|
| Arriving cargo | Move crates from the aircraft's loading area onto the waiting truck. |
| Departing cargo | Move crates from the truck to the aircraft loading area, then leave crane mode and pull the loading lever. |
In that recording, finishing passenger checks does not automatically finish the plane's cargo work. If departure clearance is refused because the hangar control is incomplete, review the remaining cargo assignments before assuming the intercom is broken.
Lower, Grip, Move, and Release Carefully
The Prologue and prerelease recordings show a workstation interface with an activation prompt and contextual crane controls. They demonstrate lowering the crane onto the crate, engaging the grip, moving the load across, and releasing it at the required destination.
Those older recordings show Space associated with gripping or releasing and the left mouse button being used to lower the crane. Treat those as historical examples, not a guaranteed post-hotfix layout. For your current run, use the input labels displayed by the crane interface, particularly on a controller.
Do not confuse the crane's cargo-handling task with every other inspection. A tarped shipment may need attention outside crane mode. In the recorded capybara tutorial, the player uncovers the cage, releases the animal, and uses the crane to dispose of the empty cage in the designated container.
React to Malfunctions Instead of Forcing the Load
The developer describes equipment failures such as reversed controls and excessive clamp pressure. In the recorded tutorial, the response to a dangerous clamp malfunction is to release the crate quickly rather than keep holding it until it is destroyed.
A separate October 14 developer update explains an old physics problem that could trap the crane inside the plane. The developer addressed it by restricting movement and disabling crane-plane collisions. That is a documented engineering fix, not an instruction to ram the crane through the aircraft or a guarantee about every stuck crate.
FAQ
What are the current keyboard and controller bindings?
Use the crane interface in your installed version. The October 29 patch changed bindings, and its collected notes do not list every replacement input.
Why has the departing crate not loaded into the plane?
The recorded tutorial requires moving it to the loading area, exiting crane mode, and pulling the loading lever. Merely carrying it toward the aircraft is not that full sequence.
What should I do when the clamp starts crushing a crate?
The recorded malfunction tutorial instructs the player to release the crate promptly. Use the release input shown by your current controls.