When I fly into PFO I always keep the AP in and do the procedural ILS. We always seem to arrive when the sun is low in the west. Thomson a/c more often than not are screaming in behind me on a visual expressing a bit of frustration in their tone that the ezy is slow and in their way. When my autopilot takes the LOC I am reasonably happy I'm pointing at the correct bit of Tarmac. Going visual into PFO from the west to land west means dumping height if you actually want to make a shorter approach than the procedure prescribes, to achieve this I have heard countless Thomson a/c declaring their intention to go visual at 14000-20000 feet. In my mind this involves speed brake, high speed etc etc to get that height off so you don't have to wander all the way out as far as the procedure states. So high, fast, no radar cover and then you turn finals with a low sun on your face and increased workload.
More than once I have urged caution to FO's wanting to go visual early on and they have been might surprised at the viz when they turn finals as when tracking east in cavok and the airfield in front of you this problem is just not apparant.
I don't know if the crew in question were in this scenario at all, but I am well aware of the pitfalls of deciding on an early visual decision going into PFO and for that reason I'm afraid I continue to frustrate those behind me desperate to save 2 mins by asking for a visual approach at 15000 feet.