Why didn't alarm bells ring?
I understand the difficulties of approaches into the sun and I brief this when expected. It just so happens that today I made an approach into BFS/EGAA on RWY 25 as the sun was sitting on the horizon. By 500ft RA I could not see the runway markings, but shortly after I could see all markings well enough to continue to landing.
Why did the pilots continue to land when there was no clear indication of WHERE they were landing?
If they had not seen the touch down markings, then you could assume the rest of the runway would not have been visible. The next question should naturally be 'How much of the 6800ft is left?'. Don't know! Well I wouldn't want to hang around when I have no idea at what point I touched-down.
Did the pilots review the airport diagram, so that they may have a good idea of what to expect? If the aircraft was able to make a visual approach then tarmac and airport structures should have been visible enough to orientate one's self.
Did the pilots suffer from 'Get-home-titis' after a long flight?
Was Confirmation Bias playing its usual role? (Confirmation Bias is when the brain manipulates facts, or ignores them, to achieve the desired conclusion.)