The problem is that airline FMS systems do so much that it is possible to get tangled in knots. In my personal airplane, this kind of thing can't happen because the MFD always shows the extended runway centerline when close to the intended airport. In the old days, you would have simply backed up the visual approach by tuning the localizer, but now the FMS may have been programmed for something else, such as a STAR, which was abandoned when cleared for the visual. Of course, it would have been possible to reprogram for the localizer, but maybe they were rushed, or whatever. In any case, it used to be simpler. And this is one case where many GA aircraft are better equipped than your average airliner.