Fascinating stuff.
411A, thanks for that description. Presumably if you had lost visual when on base leg (as opposed to left downwind) your missed approach procedure would have been somewhat different. And different again if you were over the threshold itself. Which must make the briefing for such an approach rather complex!
Wasn't there a recent(ish) crash in the Far East where plane overshot on the base leg when circling and hit terrain?
I'm not trying to make any point here, btw, just fascinated to hear how pilots deal with this situation, which presumably doesn't occur very often.
E.S.