in many modern jetliners, the turbulence is ''felt'' more in the back than the front.
However, do you really think it took 10 minutes for the cabin crew to intercom the pilots and say...we have injuries back here.?
And certainly, descending while changing heading would likely take you out of the area of turbulence. it wasn't convective turbulence ,or so we have been lead to believe.
with some 30 injuries, triage, while a nice term, should have been almost immediate...people screaming, thrown around the cabin and so forth.
while coordinating with the ground is nice, situational awareness (nearest good airport) and command decisions should have been a bit quicker.
and how do you know the turbulence near the rockies and Denver wouldn't be worse?
Turbulenece...(as pilot, control the plane, check on pax)
hear of injuries...do I waste time and call the doctor on the sat phone (many airlines have medical advisory units available)? Or do I say, Kansas City, one of the largest metro areas in the midwest, with an airport designed with the SST in mind (ancient history now) is 10 minutes away?
Yeah, 1hour and 26 minutes to Denver...
Well, we truly don't know all the details, but I will say this, over and over: its time to remember SAFETY over money and convenience.
But good United Pilots do what they are told by dispatch...oh forget that I even wrote that!!! I wonder what they would have done if all the engines quit out of LGA? Would they have called dispatch for an idea?