I'm sorry but this is the observational garbage that baffles me. He (AA captain) was perfectly fine until gusting winds made a landing outside of limits. Now had he pressed on and an incident occurred he would have been in a position where he had clearly busted SOP's. He requests what he needs (in effect a PAN PAN PAN) with the caveat that circumstances will require him to declare an emergency if he does not get an immediate positive confirmation. When that is not given he declares an emergency and states his intentions in a timely manner.
Here is my question phrased in the context of my understanding. If he continues as requested while waiting for some type of approval what are the logistics involved with regard to rerouting traffic once he crosses beyond a certain point?
Given his fuel state and the tremendous congestion (both at primary and alternates) what benefit does he gain by hesitating here vs initiating a perfectly safe and timely "correction" that doesn't force wholesale disruption of traffic?
Assuming he waited in the Que and was near minimum (as everything here seems to indicate) then the moment the wind went over his limits he was left with limited options...the best of which is exactly what he did.
I certainly know who I'd prefer to have in the pointy end
