"hood ornament" risk as a certainty.
Please point out where I said there was no other possibility other than a mid air collision from a clearance being issued at the current level.
VMC but not CAVOK? A pointless point.
How? A pithy remark is hardly something to base something so serious on. Are you saying you that even the slightest smattering of cloud, regardless of density or location renders conditions either CAVOK or IMC, and no other gradation of conditions is possible?
A few minutes? You've already conceded that the PIC didn't know that's all it would take.
Correct. And for the loss of the aircraft, his life and those of his passengers, he couldn't have spared a few minutes to even find out how long the delay might be.