My 2 cents worth:
1. A crew yelling mayday or pan-pan is IMHO not automatically asking for the crash crew... as I'm just in simulator training, changing from 320 to 340, I make mayday-calls on a daily basis now :-).
In the 340 it would be dependent on which hydraulic system fails... The green (main) system could bring me to "mayday", while a failure of the yellow system would be a 'return to the field for technical reasons'.
Following the same line of thought: a single engine failure on a 4-engined a/c is no mayday, but a double -offcourse- is.
2. In the simulator I always ask for a certain type of assistance, which I believe is appropriate for the failure we have at hand. If the controller decides to bring out the full crash crew, when I only need some vectors for a minor navigational problem, or when I only need another FL because of a failed pack, it would be a waste of time and money.
3. During joint-training sessions with ATC here at our homebase, we found out that it is indeed difficult to provide all the information ATC would need to base their own opinion about the severity of the failure on. Usually we are too busy flying, trouble shooting, talking with the purser, making PA speeches etc... ATC is only a part of all the things we need to do in an emergency. Personally I learned to give exact information about the failure ("we lost one hydraulic system, we will remain on the runway after landing because our nosewheelsteering is inop, there is no danger for passangers or aircraft upon landing"), and as well to be very exact in my requests ("we need vectors for 35 NM untill landing").
4. I think Gonzo's reaction was correct, however the procedures should be changed. As I stated above, a partial hydraulic loss does not automatically mean that the flight is in danger. In this particular case every pilot (I hope) would ask for the longest runway, but that does not automatically imply an overrun. It is difficult to act on so little information, but I agree with the "better safe than sorry"-scenario.
5. Flaps/Slats stuck at config two might not be a reason for bringing out the crash crew, but I would qualify the failure as 'serious' anyway. Maybe losing one generator could be 'minor', but stuck flight controls is IMHO something bigger (abnormal pitch attitude at landing, abnormal speed, abnormal stresslevel in the cockpit etc.).
Happy landings!
P77