B747 flight crew was concerned about landing without a clearance at sfo. All of their attention was ...

Narrative:

Following receiving clearance for a visual approach to runway 28L; we switched to sfo tower frequency. The pilot flying was high and fast on approach; and I; as relief pilot; was monitoring his airspeed and flap configuration. The pilot flying called for flaps 25 and they were selected; but the pilot flying allowed the airspeed to increase; causing flap relief to 20 degrees. The pilot flying then decreased airspeed; and called for flaps 30. After 30 flaps were selected; the pilot flying again increased airspeed causing flaps to load relief and remain at 25 degrees. I was concentrating on the pilot flying's airspeed maintenance and watching for when the flaps would move to 30 degrees. The PF reduced airspeed; and the flaps moved to 30 degrees at about 600 ft AGL. We landed uneventfully and exited the runway. At that time; the pilot not flying asked the crew if we remembered receiving a clearance to land. Because of the intensity of concentration on the pilot flying's approach; none of us remembered for certain if a landing clearance had been received from the tower. We asked the tower later if we had clearance to land; and they said we had received a green light. This incident occurred because the pilot flying was behind the airplane; high and fast on approach; and very close to violating the stabilized approach criteria. We were all fixated on monitoring the pilot-flying's performance; and thus no one thought to query the tower for landing clearance. Nothing unsafe occurred; but this was an omission that could have had much more serious consequences.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B747 flight crew was concerned about landing without a clearance at SFO. All of their attention was focused on an unstabilized approach after a fatiguing international flight.

Narrative: Following receiving clearance for a visual approach to Runway 28L; we switched to SFO Tower frequency. The pilot flying was high and fast on approach; and I; as relief pilot; was monitoring his airspeed and flap configuration. The pilot flying called for Flaps 25 and they were selected; but the pilot flying allowed the airspeed to increase; causing flap relief to 20 degrees. The pilot flying then decreased airspeed; and called for Flaps 30. After 30 flaps were selected; the pilot flying again increased airspeed causing flaps to load relief and remain at 25 degrees. I was concentrating on the pilot flying's airspeed maintenance and watching for when the flaps would move to 30 degrees. The PF reduced airspeed; and the flaps moved to 30 degrees at about 600 FT AGL. We landed uneventfully and exited the runway. At that time; the pilot not flying asked the crew if we remembered receiving a clearance to land. Because of the intensity of concentration on the pilot flying's approach; none of us remembered for certain if a landing clearance had been received from the tower. We asked the tower later if we had clearance to land; and they said we had received a green light. This incident occurred because the pilot flying was behind the airplane; high and fast on approach; and very close to violating the stabilized approach criteria. We were all fixated on monitoring the pilot-flying's performance; and thus no one thought to query the tower for landing clearance. Nothing unsafe occurred; but this was an omission that could have had much more serious consequences.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	842256
Time
Date	200907
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	SFO.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B747-400
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Landing
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 23000 Flight Crew Type 5000
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 197 Flight Crew Total 19514 Flight Crew Type 4629

B747 flight crew was concerned about landing without a clearance at sfo. All of their attention was focused on an unstabilized approach after a fatiguing international flight.