[zipper]

He should have been able to safely land with no instruments at all

With no glideslope?

[AlexW]

“With no glideslope?”
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Of course, unless he was in IFR conditions.
I never had a glideslope indicator.
A plane that size, however, may have very poor close in runway viability, causing the pilot to see only quite far ahead. Maybe some ATR pilots on FR can comment on that.