While unforgivable at such a major airport - it is done all the time at uncontrolled General Aviation (GA) airports. There may even be a dozen or so A/C in the pattern at one time. No big deal. The pilots just reverted to their training.
One night I was landing at a controlled airport and just before touchdown the city power went out. No runway lights and no radios.
We just continued as we had been instructed and landed. Turned off at the nearest taxi way and held short of next taxi way. Got a green light from the tower to proceed and we did.
Yeah, this "emergency" struck me as not being an emergency. The pilot landed safely during a low traffic portion of the evening. Most accidents are a confluence of small minor errors that idividually would not have been a problem but when taken together produce the confusion that leads to mistakes. This could have been one of those factors, but it wasn't so no harm no fowl. Give the controller a stern talking to and review the scheduling to see if the manager who scheduled him deserves some blame and call it good.
-Kirby
Kirby Wilkerson
Remember, first define the problem, then solve it.
