> The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has banned foreign pilots from making visual approaches to San Francisco airport runways 28 left and right.
This was in 2013. My understanding is some foreign carriers took this into company SOP.
> While a delay in air traffic is understandable, adhering to the announced duration (which clearly had the characteristics of an Expected Approach Time) is crucial to ensure safety. In this case, the crew experienced confusion when their EAT was not met, leading to concerns about fuel reserves and potential emergencies. Efficient coordination between ATC and crews is essential to prevent such situations
Sounds like atc having in fact time to fuck around was the root of the issue here
If this is their standard procedure surely it made its way into the flight plan they filed. A Lufthansa requirement for an ILS approach should've come as no surprise to anyone at SFO.
If the ILS was unavailable for some reason there should've been a relevant NOTAM, in which case the crew would've either diverted or not performed the flight.
And lastly, even among domestic airlines nighttime visual approaches are not always allowed by SOP. e.g.
This whole thing is Lufthansa fault for mandating that they so special that they get an ILS approach while everybody else can do a visual approach.
Their drama, their problem.