Remember when:
remember when a commercial pilot (let alone an ATP) had to demonstrate that he was master of the craft and could land within 200' of his chosen spot?
We are losing certain skills. We seem to go for a smooth landing so often that we lose the spot landing skill.
Now...maybe something happened to really screw up this landing...but more than likely the pilot had lost that special skill of planting the wheels exactly where you want them.
Day or night, a narrowbody plane (ok, I might give a very long narrowbody like the 757 a break) should touchdown on those nice big rectangles painted on the runway...(certainly if you are following a heavy jet, wake turbulence may make you choose to land past the preceeding plane's touchdown point). And if you can't see white rectangles, then use alternate methods of determining a touchdown point equivilent with the above. (See Davies' "Handling the Big Jets" for a description of this)...or touchdown abeam a standard vasi, or where the ILS GS is taking you, or count a certain number of runway lights down the runway.
Always AIM for something...don't just get near the runway and hope for the best.
Now I know this airport didn't have touchdown zone lights...that certainly would have helped...but all runways have different colored runway lights to let you know where you are...check AIM for thorough discussion.
Now, if someone changed the color of the lights...that would be a hell of an excuse...but it probably didn't happen.
Spot landings...make them a habit...be as skilled as Lindbergh or our forefathers in aviation...(and you navy guys...don't gloat!)
I just read that the FAA is monitoring the American airlines pilots for landing skills now.