[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Very interesting.....so the runway length was the reason for the ILS being off.

Big Airplanes need a long runway.

[Marine_Uncle]

KSFO L28 is 10594.0 feet. The second longest runway at that airport.
KFSO R28 is 11861.0 feet. The longest. To the best of my knowledge,
heavies routinely take off and land on L28 year round.
As the article indicates and your ping shows, the ILS system
was not operating due to a summer shutdown. I also notice in my
Flight Simulator Airport Designer software, that L28 does not have
incoming markers (signal will beep in cockpit if feature is turned on.
So the pilot would not have had any form of the typical glide path and distance readings ( ILS ), to help guide them in.
Seems pretty straight forward. Pilot error is the culprit.