Originally Posted by
WestSideBilly
Modern jets' autoland does everything except put the landing gear down. Pilots gotta earn their keep!
Almost everything. As pointed out in post #5 by jackal, all CatIII approaches require the pilot to see the runway environment (approach or runway lights) prior to landing. If not in sight, a missed approach must be executed.
Right now, the visibility down the landing runway (16R) is quite low, 700ft, and there have been a few missed approaches. This is not a big problem, as they just come back for another attempt, and usually make it in. AS 695 missed on the first approach, but made it on the second try.
The CatIII missed approach is where pilots really earn their keep.
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ASA695
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA214