Check out Avman's post again; Mrs Avman's memory is pretty good. It would help perspective tremendously if someone could post a link to the original thread - if it still exists. The subject was discussed intelligently and exhaustively there and, if I'm not mistaken, there was a timeline of sorts describing communications between the cockpit and dispatch/maintenance. I certainly recall there was company pressure to bring the aircraft to a HL base.
The discussion here, years after the fact and without the benefit of facts or even the gossip at the time, is pretty pointless.