"Tower, just want to confirm. This is Air Canada 759. We see lights on the runway there. Across the runway. Can you confirm are we cleared to land?"
I can only imagine that he didn't know that 28L was out so deduced the two things he was seeing were 28L and 28R when they were actually 28R and Charlie. Is there any other possibility that I am not considering?
If so, this doesn't have anything to do with noise abatement.