Originally Posted by
portmanteau
I am inclined to think they were not aware it was out of service. This led them to think the lit runway on their left was 28L and 28R had to be further over to the right which was where they headed. How they could do that in the absence of any approach lighting is the mystery yet to be solved.
In absence of information from CVR, crew interviews etc., this seems most likely. Otherwise it's hard to see how they ignored the mass of approach lighting a few hundred feet to their left. Still leaves the question of how they approached a major international airport at night without any approach lights on the 'runway' and carried on. The circadian time seems probably very important. And as many have already alluded to, seeing what you think you should see.
When all is said and done, hopefully a wake up call for everyone, that any crew, from anywhere, can make potentially disastrous errors on a nice easy VFR to a big airport.