> nothing stops the pilot from following the ILS procedure with approval from ATC on such a "visual" approach But that wasn't what ATC was offering the Lufthan

> nothing stops the pilot from following the ILS procedure with approval from ATC on such a "visual" approach But that wasn't what ATC was offering the Lufthansa crew, was it? If that were what ATC was offering, I would expect to see something more explicit in the voice traffic, something like "we can grant you permission to follow the ILS approach procedure if you agree to maintain visual separation from the aircraft coming in on the parallel runway". If the Lufthansa pilot is on the hook to follow company policy requiring an ILS approach, I wouldn't expect him to hang his hat on something cryptic from ATC that could be interpreted in multiple different ways. I would expect him to need something explicit.