Originally Posted by
Capt Fathom
This has got nothing to do with anyone's ability to fly a visual approach. It's about maintaining your own separation from other aircraft visually at night.
^ This!!
Maintaining visual separation during the day is hard enough, it's not really possible at night. It sometimes seems a controller gets themselves into to a situation they can't be arsed sorting so just want to divulge themselves of any responsibility instead of sorting it.
I've had similar before stateside:
- Are you visual with the airport?
- Negative
- Are you visual with the aircraft ahead?
- Affirm.
- Follow them to the airport!
- ...
It may be the way it's done there, but it's not appropriate, in my opinion, for busy airspace at an international airport.
How do you even know that the aircraft/light you eyeball is the one they intend.