A310 Driver:
I think you are correct. While it can be helpful for ATC to point out other options, the PIC is the boss. It might help us all to just say: I am operating under FAR part 91.3 (or similiar 121 regs) and I WILL BE LANDING ON RUNWAY 17C GET EVERYONE OUT OF THE WAY.
in the incident we have been talking about, 2 things come to mind. Minding the fuel during climbout. And, did the crew realize after the emergency declaration that the situation was under control and then just didn't cancel the emergency?
During the climbout (highest fuel flow) if the crew had noticed a problem, why didn't they return to departure airport? much less crowded than DFW.