[danielschonfeld]

Following along that logic. Nobody would fault the LH pilot for a similar judgement call requiring an immediate landing at the closest suitable airport, namely SFO.

ATC was in the wrong here and the attitude displayed was neither called for nor professional.

[pdonis]

> Nobody would fault the LH pilot for a similar judgement call

Bad analogy. The LH pilot's reason for asking for an ILS approach was company policy; he made no claim that he was unable to make a visual landing safely because of actual conditions, only that his company wouldn't allow him to make a visual landing as a matter of policy.

> ATC was in the wrong here and the attitude displayed was neither called for nor professional.

Many other posters in this discussion have pointed out aspects of the situation that make it clear that it wasn't that simple.