Have you heard about this? On May 4, American Airlines Flight 2, a Boeing 767-200, declared an emergency on approach to JFK after ATC denied their request for landing Runway 31R. Here's part of the ATC audio.
JFK's Runway 31L was closed for repairs, so I believe Runway 31R was being used for departures and Runway 22L (and Right?) was being used for arrivals. When American 2 Heavy checks on with Tower, the controller issues a landing clearance and wind check of 320 at 23, gusting 35. That's a heck of a lot of crosswind (and even some tailwind component!). The crew declares an emergency, makes a turn, and lands Runway 31R. This was an unusual event, and it's difficult to determine whether the crew acted appropriately without knowing the full details of what happened.
I'd like to hear the ATC audio from New York Approach between the controller and this flight crew. The conflict started there, and I'll bet the crew requested landing 31R multiple times and the controller didn't oblige. New York Approach controllers can be stubborn. After hearing the wind check from Tower, the crew, fed up by the Approach controller's lack of assistance, decided their only option was to use their emergency authority and land their aircraft where they deemed fit. I'm assuming there was a minimum fuel situation, and if there was, I wonder if it was communicated to ATC. If there wasn't a minimum fuel situation, why didn't the crew divert to another airport with a suitable runway for landing? Not enough fuel, probably.
After the crew declares an emergency, the Tower issues them a go-around vector which they do not comply with. This seems out of line unless the fuel state was dire. Listening to the Tower audio, it sounds like the controller understood the flight's situation and was attempting to initiate vectors for an approach to 31R. I think the crew was fed with ATC at that point and their brains had switched into "I'm not listening to anything you have to say anymore" mode. That's understandable, and I don't necessarily disagree with the crew's decision to override the controller's instructions but I'm not sure that was totally necessary when the controller was already trying to send them to 31R. Again, maybe fuel state was a factor. Maybe the crew felt they couldn't take more vectoring.
So, was this a justified "emergency?" That depends on the fuel remaining. If the flight was at minimum fuel, yes, this was an emergency. They needed to land now at this airport, and the only way they could do that safely was to land on a runway better aligned with the wind than the runway ATC allegedly insisted on giving them. If the flight had fuel to divert, no, this was not an emergency. The FAA will decide.
