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Obviously I'm missing something, but I thought all the concerns you express here were adequately covered in the PDF. I'm not a pilot, but the reasoning given there seemed pretty watertight to me.

I don't have time now to cross-correlate what you're saying with the article, but I hope to get time later to learn more about the discrepancy.

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To summarize my point: It was a high-risk decision electing to do an instrument approach at LAX. I don't think the risks given by the Captain in attempting to divert were adequately weighed against the risks of going into the clouds (with such an emergency). I think electing to divert to a field with clear sky was the less risky choice.

Anyway, all's well that ends well.

The captain lays out his selection of the airfield, runway and approach procedure fairly succinctly in the PDF, and the limited but stable control he had over the aircraft.

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