B757 Captain reported encountering turbulence from departing Super A380 just before landing at SFO. Reporter expressed concern that SFO ATC is consistently operating with insufficient spacing in these type of events.
Synopsis
B757 Captain reported encountering turbulence from departing Super A380 just before landing at SFO. Reporter expressed concern that SFO ATC is consistently operating with insufficient spacing in these type of events.
Narrative
While flying the ILS to Runway 28R; on initial contact we were instructed to 'Continue'. The next communication was a landing clearance with the advisory that a Super would be departing ahead of us. The Super was cleared to line up and wait. The Super was later cleared to take off. Our configuration for landing was Flaps 30 and we were slowed to our final approach speed of 150 knots. While following the glideslope we noticed fluctuations on the needles as the Super was lining up on the runway. With the runway in sight; we safely continued and manually flew the aircraft through the bad indications. I instructed the FO to inform me when the Super rotated to make sure we touched down and stopped well before that point. While we crossed 50 feet RA the Super finally rotated for takeoff. As we approached the touchdown point we experienced turbulence from the departing aircraft. I was able to safely maintain positive control of the aircraft; push through the turbulence; and land within the touchdown zone. This is the second time I have provided a report for approaching aircraft being cleared to land much too close to departing heavy or Super traffic. This issue needs to be elevated. The separations between arriving and departing traffic in San Francisco is becoming increasingly concerning. This practice in SFO is unsafe.We were faced with a decision to continue the approach or execute a missed approach on top of the departing heavy. Given the visual conditions we opted to continue under the clearance provided by ATC.
NASA callback
Reporter stated it is imperative that spacing be increased for these situations.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.