<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by letiole:
In the U.S. autolands are allowed only during VFR conditions, but in Europe they're allowed even when the airport is covered in a sea of fog. Would be nice for places such as SFO. Because autolands are the rule in Europe, pilots there have to make an effort to handland often enough to maintain currency, whereas in the U.S. it's just the opposite.</font>
Interesting...could this be a fairly recent regulation in the U.S.? Back when I was a DL employee (I worked in CVG Reservations 1978-83) I was once on an early morning TriStar flight from ATL to BOS, which was totally socked in with fog. Upon boarding around 06:00 in ATL, we were told there was a chance we could divert because of fog in BOS but nothing more was said about it. As we approached BOS we heard the normal sounds of flaps being extended and the gear being lowered...then, all of a sudden, we touched down - yet we could not see the ground - and you could have heard a pin drop in the cabin. The captain then explained what had just occurred and told us that, because they could not see to taxi the aircraft, we would have to wait for a tug to tow us to the gate. It was quite an experience!