I'm a Captain with UPS (won't say which fleet) and work in our TC. Currently I am out of the country.
Our company charts for the LOC approach say NA at night. I'm not talking about the NA at night for lack of VGSI. This is due, undoubtedly to the terrain and black hole effect of night operations.
Also, interestingly, we have an RNAV GPS to 18 which does not have that restriction, but according to NTSB briefings they were using the LOC 18 as reference.
However, with the hourly observation, I would guess they shot a visual approach, "backed up" by the LOC and in that case, the reference for the LOC would be legit
I don't have much to say.. but if you all need facts that I can share, I will do so. It has been a long week of grieving for us.
I am not familiar with the A300, but I am typed in all of our other aircraft