Thanks Steven, as a new Instrument rated pilot, my 'real-world'
experience with the system is pretty limited. And your right, I
assumed KIND, when the decision only mentioned Indianopolis.

I had assumed that a ground stop (or some other traffic "congestion")
was the cause for the lack of clearance into Indianapolis, but the
mention in the decision of the weather being below minimums as another
reason for not granting a clearance confused me. Assuming a ground
stop wasn't in effect (hypothetical situation where noone was going to
Indianapolis, other than our wayward pilot) would they still have
denied him a clearance because the field was below minimums?

There may have been a ground stop for traffic destined for
airports served by Indianapolis approach. If so, he can't get
a clearance for an airport within IND approach airspace.

So ground stop's would affect all aircraft headed for destinations
within a given terminal environment, not just a specific airport.
That makes sense if you figure that the reason for the ground stop is
approach control is overloaded. Adding more airplanes to the system
even if they are just stopping at a sattelite field isn't going to
help the matter.

Sorry for the naive questions. Never had a clearance denied before.

Anybody know what happened to him? Did he make it into the airport he
was going to? Or was he forced to diver someplace else? The report
only makes mention of taking off, not the eventual landing.