> The pilots of the A350 (and I don't understand why this angle isn't getting more attention) should have been looking out the window and seen the lighted-and-very-visible turboprop on the runway in front of them.
Because pilots know that it is incredibly hard or impossible to see an airplane lined up on the runway.
By lighted we mean that the turboprop had the required lights on the end of the wings and the end of the tail. Otherwise the airplane is totally black, on a totally black runway. Simply it is very easy to not notice the extra lights among all the lights of the runway.
The pattern you are trying to notice is 3 extra lights among many, and a small gap in the runway lights where they are obstructed.
> The backstop to this really can't be "give different instructions", because whatever you pick can be misheard too.
We know a solution for this. ASDE-X(Airport Surface Detection System) is a set of sensors (radars mostly) integrated together to monitor the ground movements of aircraft and automatically report deviations such as runway incursions.
Because pilots know that it is incredibly hard or impossible to see an airplane lined up on the runway.
By lighted we mean that the turboprop had the required lights on the end of the wings and the end of the tail. Otherwise the airplane is totally black, on a totally black runway. Simply it is very easy to not notice the extra lights among all the lights of the runway.
The pattern you are trying to notice is 3 extra lights among many, and a small gap in the runway lights where they are obstructed.
> The backstop to this really can't be "give different instructions", because whatever you pick can be misheard too.
We know a solution for this. ASDE-X(Airport Surface Detection System) is a set of sensors (radars mostly) integrated together to monitor the ground movements of aircraft and automatically report deviations such as runway incursions.
https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/technology/asde-x