Why do I find it hard to believe that we, as pilots in clear weather, need an ILS to find a runway plainly visible? The pilots on the AC flight questioned the controller, but did not question themselves, there's the problem.
I don't think the ILS being tuned and displayed or the FMS approach would, or could have, made the slightest difference. Once locked into the the visual picture, the crew wasn't going to change. What's surprising is they did NOT go around when they believed the runway was blocked.