I've certainly no axe to grind on behalf of the ASC Strat Fleets. As a lowly MRT driver sans scraper, I always felt they were fair game for beating to the air conditioned accomodation in the Route Hotels, etc. However, I can't fathom the reasoning for holding an inbound a/c while he consumed his Island Holding fuel (ie he had nowhere else to go) while two aircraft with excess fuel burned it off doing an impromptu 'bombing exercise'.
I realise that Gan Approach was the instigator of this arbitrary decision, but wouldn't Flight Safety have been better served if one of the SC aircraft had piped up that, as far as he was concerned, the VC-10 could go ahead and land while they held off?
The reaction of the other SC captain would have determined if he was a good egg or an utter bounder, of course!