Hi!
From what I understand:
There WAS a lot of communicating that went on between this aircraft and ATC before we get "the tape" that we were able to listen to.
The crew had already declared min fuel, which is explained previously.
Since the crew was low on fuel, they may have had to land. If they had been vectored around the box again, they may not have had enough fuel.
Comments:
The crew needed enough fuel for the trip, arrival, go-around, flight to the alternate, approach at the alternate, etc. BEFORE they left their destination. Once they were already in NYC, there are infinite numbers of reasons why they may have not had enough fuel to go to their alternate, or to go around the box again.
The FAA procedures, like, "We are declaring an emergency...", are 100% correct, and they do NOT need to be changed to ICAO standard. That is like saying that the Kenya CAA's decision to make pilots pass the "Conversion Exam" to convert their license (NOT the Air Law exam), is wrong, and the KCAA should change to ICAO standard. Each CAA is legally allowed to do what they want. When a countries procedures are different from ICAO, that is correct, and each country needs to decide for themselves the best way to do things. If we don't like how a particular CAA does things (see the KCAA decision above), then too bad for us.
I do think that things could have been handled differently ealier in this situation, but they weren't, and obviously, the capt felt he was boxed-in, and did what he needed to do. No crashing by anyone, so it all ended well!
cliff
LFW