"Bob Noel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Mike Young" wrote:

A response of "unable" is not a refusal?

I am "unable" to hop like a frog.
I "refuse" to hop like a frog.

There's a distinct difference.

In the context of Pilot-Controller communication, any distinction is
insignificant.

It's not just significant. It's all the difference in the world, and the
reason for the heat in this thread. On the scale of bigness, the only
uncertainty I have is which is larger, the semantics of can't versus won't;
or answering "Affirmative!" to the question "Are you declaring an emergency
at this time?" There's no room for mush-mouth weasel words in that incident.
I don't believe the news broadcast told all that was worth telling.