Was there no option to land into wind ?
US carriers are permitted to conduct an instrument approach to runway conduct a visual approach to the opposite runway, provided that VFR or CAT "D" conditions prevail, whichever is greater.
Would it have been the prudent course of action for the skipper to land into the wind? We were not in the cockpit. Thus not aware of what his thought process was at the time.
Perhaps other pilots may have elected to use, flaps 40 resulting in a 7 to 8 knot lower approach speed resulting in much less float. Another choice would be to maneuver for a landing on RWY 30 with a flaps 30 landing.
Either way, I’m sure the captain is reliving this landing many times on a daily basis. The saving's grace is that nobody died in this accident as a result of this captain’s choice to land with a tailwind, poor airman skills in not being able to land in the touchdown zone, and not executing a go-around after the touchdown zone disappeared behind him.