An air carrier crew reported that on approach to sfo runway 28R at dusk in windy conditions; they we...

Narrative:

We flew to san francisco (sfo). The conditions in sfo that evening were winds out of the west at about 20-25 KTS and a broken layer at about 8000 ft. Sfo was only using runways 28L and 28R for arrivals and departures. On final approach into san francisco we were given a high right downwind and to expect the visual to 28R. As we descended out of the broken layer norcal approach asked us to find an airbus and a turboprop at our 1-2 o'clock. We were to follow those aircraft. Because of the sunset conditions it was hard to visually locate aircraft. We found the airbus and were then given a base turn. On base we had the airport in sight and finally located the turboprop. Norcal approach gave us a late vector onto the localizer. This caused us to overshoot final and the localizer for 28R with no conflict to other traffic. We corrected and established ourselves on the localizer for 28R and were then given the visual approach. The late vector caused us to lose sight of the turboprop 2 miles ahead on the visual for 28L. With the setting sun and evening conditions we continued to look for the turboprop but could not see them. Also; the strong winds made us focus more on maintaining a nice stabilized approach into 28R. Norcal was heavily involved in communication with other aircraft and never handed us off to sfo tower. Upon flying over the numbers of 28R we realized we were still on norcal frequency. The captain felt for the safety of the flight in regards to the phase we were in to land the aircraft on the unobstructed runway. We rolled out and held short of 28L on taxiway echo. We contacted tower and were advised to continue holding short for landing traffic. Once the traffic landed we were instructed to cross 28R and contact ground control. We did just that and taxied to the gate with ground and ramp control. We were never instructed to contact the sfo tower. Knowing of our mistake; the captain felt it necessary to take it upon ourselves to call the tower. The captain discussed with the tower the distractions and the series of events that took place that caused us to not obtain a landing clearance. The tower was very understanding; assured us no conflict ensued; and advised us to have a good evening.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An Air Carrier Crew reported that on approach to SFO Runway 28R at dusk in windy conditions; they were concentrating on finding traffic on final and forgot to call tower prior to landing for clearance.

Narrative: We flew to San Francisco (SFO). The conditions in SFO that evening were winds out of the west at about 20-25 KTS and a broken layer at about 8000 FT. SFO was only using Runways 28L and 28R for arrivals and departures. On final approach into San Francisco we were given a high right downwind and to expect the visual to 28R. As we descended out of the broken layer NORCAL Approach asked us to find an Airbus and a turboprop at our 1-2 o'clock. We were to follow those aircraft. Because of the sunset conditions it was hard to visually locate aircraft. We found the Airbus and were then given a base turn. On base we had the airport in sight and finally located the turboprop. NORCAL Approach gave us a late vector onto the localizer. This caused us to overshoot final and the localizer for 28R with no conflict to other traffic. We corrected and established ourselves on the localizer for 28R and were then given the visual approach. The late vector caused us to lose sight of the turboprop 2 miles ahead on the visual for 28L. With the setting sun and evening conditions we continued to look for the turboprop but could not see them. Also; the strong winds made us focus more on maintaining a nice stabilized approach into 28R. NORCAL was heavily involved in communication with other aircraft and NEVER handed us off to SFO Tower. Upon flying over the numbers of 28R we realized we were still on NORCAL frequency. The Captain felt for the safety of the flight in regards to the phase we were in to land the aircraft on the unobstructed runway. We rolled out and held short of 28L on taxiway Echo. We contacted Tower and were advised to continue holding short for landing traffic. Once the traffic landed we were instructed to cross 28R and contact Ground Control. We did just that and taxied to the gate with Ground and Ramp Control. We were never instructed to contact the SFO Tower. Knowing of our mistake; the Captain felt it necessary to take it upon ourselves to call the Tower. The Captain discussed with the Tower the distractions and the series of events that took place that caused us to not obtain a landing clearance. The Tower was very understanding; assured us no conflict ensued; and advised us to have a good evening.

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	884530
Time
Date	201004
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	SFO.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Medium Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach Landing
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial
Person 2
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

An air carrier crew reported that on approach to sfo runway 28R at dusk in windy conditions; they were concentrating on finding traffic on final and forgot to call tower prior to landing for clearance.