Yeah, with the landing gear extended and when the plane has slowed, in a shallow descent over a long distance (at least for passenger planes.)

If this plane was descended too early then it would have run the risk of colliding with objects close to the ground. If the plane was going slowly it would have left a lot more debris and the collision wouldn’t have been nearly as destructive. If the plane hit the ground it may have destroyed the plane before hitting the building.

There’s a lot of reasons why this manoeuvre isn’t the same thing as just landing a plane on an airstrip.