From reading the BFA report, I got the impression that the pilots were blissfully unaware both of the front as well as what airports were below them.
They were holding over Lübeck (which is serviced by Ryanair), and the whole area to the north and east of Hamburg is littered with aerodromes that can handle a regional airliner, but they decided to go south-west, towards the front. When that failed, it seems the only other major city they could think of was Berlin.
Last edited by BRE; 20th Dec 2010 at 14:33.