We keep in close and pass over an industrial zone in the city. ‘It’s really cool as it’s a curved approach all the way in,’ says Hoey. ‘We go wings level at only 800 feet for 25L and at just 400 feet for 25R, where we’re landing now because the runways are staggered. Then we switch off the autopilot and make a visual and manual landing from that point.’

The sim calls out the altitude. At ‘500!’ we’re still in the final left turn that starts at 1,000 feet. As the wings straighten, we hear ‘400!’, and there’s the runway. ‘Once the wings are level, we train the crew to assess the situation, and if it’s good they disconnect the autopilot and land straight ahead,’ says Hoey.

He disconnects the autopilot, which causes a siren to briefly sound, and then he pushes the throttles forward. We start climbing again and return to the starting point of the approach. Once back in position, Hoey goes to the control console to turn day into night. The mountainous terrain becomes invisible to the eye, and there are very few lights as we look to where the instruments indicate the mountains are.

‘Say it’s nighttime and there’s low cloud cover at 3,000 feet – you have to navigate and interpret things visually,’ says Hoey. ‘That’s a big ask at the end of a long flight, and if the winds are from the west they’re quite strong, so you could be bouncing around as well.’