Originally Posted by
aa73
Wow Fli struck a nerve huh? Only you would turn this into a Nordstrom/Kmart thing, nice to see you're consistent.
The crosswinds exceeded the aircraft limitation. Most pilots I know would proceed on to JFK and attempt to use a different runway before diverting. That's what these guys did. When the controller wouldn't give them another runway unless they declared an emergency, that's exactly what they did. But then again, most controllers wouldn't be using a runway that has crosswinds out of limits. Who cares if Delta landed behind them safely? So did the Learjet in DFW in 1985 right before Delta 191 that hit windshear.
But hey, you've got 15,000 hours and are so experienced, this stuff couldn't possibly happen to you.
Most pilots would proceed to their destination and attempt to use a different runway. In doing so, I think that most pilots would probably accept vectors around the pattern again too.
If this crew had enough fuel to get resequenced into the flow for 31R then forcing the issue wasn't out of line... deviating from a clearance and potentially causing a significant loss of separation was out of line.