Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Communication Breakdown; Confusion; Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Procedure; Environment - Non Weather Related
During approach to RIC; we requested the ILS Runway 02. The winds were reported as calm. Runways 16/34 were under construction so there was no ILS to those runways. Potomac Approach would not approve the ILS Runway 02. We were vectored to the visual approach to Runway 20. We were able to back up the visual approach with the GPS Runway 20.  If winds are not a factor; there should be no reason not to utilize runways with precision approach guidance. Especially when flights are operating at night. A freight carrier just had an incident in BHM where ATC closed the main precision approach runway and vectored the flight to an unfamiliar short runway with no precision approach guidance. ATC seems to believe there is no difference between flying at night versus during the day. Crews flying at night need all the technology available to operate safely.
PCT vectored an air carrier for a night visual to RIC Runway 20 with no precision approach back up. Runway 2 with a precision approach was available but a request for that approach was denied.