AA jet refused permission for emergency landing in Costa Rica

i posted that last week in my comments but thank you

I call BS. In fact a quote from the article contradicts the headline: "The pilot did not declare an emergency and chose to return to Varadero, a decision made by the pilot and Air Transat control center ''because the company has access to maintenance staff at this airport,'' the charter airline said in a statement Monday."

The article says the crew asked to land at Ft Lauderdale, but was directed to Miami because customs would be open. In any case, it is incumbent upon the crew to be direct and concise and use international (ICAO) terminology when dealing with ATC, particularly in a foreign country.

Far be it from me to criticize that crew, but if I lost a piece of the rudder and had potential control issues I would definitely declare a Mayday Mayday Mayday and tell ATC where I was going, not ask.

What type of emergency was it anyway?

If SAL was closed because of bad weather, would they be more likely to find good weather 200km or 490km away?

The pilots said it was a fuel issue but never declared an emergency then continued on to GUA. weather was not an issue, not sure why they got down here. Coriport, Aviation ministry and a gaggle of other agencies reviewing LIR protocols.