TripleIRS-
Landing ASAP doesn't seem to be warrented in this case. That is necessary, of course, if you can't put the fire out or if you're running out of fuel, etc. Once you've got the problem stabilized, now take your time and think things out throughly.
In this case, perhaps burning some fuel would move the CG to a more favorable position. In any case, I would consider doing one or more "practice" approaches at 10,000 or so to see how the a/c would handle when I finally committed to the approach. I don't need any surprises at low altitude. Perhaps they did that while diverting. I'm not familiar with the airports in question, but perhaps one had a more favorable runway or winds, etc, than the other.
The a/c that had a jammed elevator (flying tailplane) and had to land by modulating power was a Delta L1011 at LAX about 20 years ago.
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