Originally Posted by
CW247
Over familiarization leads to over confidence which leads to these kinds of incidents. In the early 2000s I was on the jump seat of a national carrier into Cyprus from LHR. No radar. The the outbound leg was flown at 340 kts, the turn to final in excess of 250 and we became stable just above 500. Had it not been for the headwind it would've been a go around. Imagine an A330 in the calm of day with no other traffic to be seen going around in a country with a heavy macho culture. That would've been a fun discussion. I'm guessing something similar here too. To go around would've meant an explanation, to land (in the absence of FDM) would guarantee they get away with the mess. Unfortunately, the more than got away!
That could have been a demonstration of good airmanship since they were stable at 500 which I think is the criteria for most airlines and most of their aircraft in VMC. They would, of course, have had to satisfy other altitude gates set by their airline such as gear down and locked and final flap. If it was good airmanship they would have knowledge of the headwind and planned for it. Or it could have been a poorly planned approach.