Mxsmanic wrote in
:

If you can be confident than you have at least x minutes of fuel, then
an airport that is x-y minutes away is just as close as one that is x-z
minutes away. In other words, fuel is not an issue for any airports
that are within your fuel endurance; the choice among those airports can
therefore be based on other factors.

I disagree completely.

The ideal airport is the closest airport that you will reach at a reasonable
descent rate. If you delay your descent until you are out of fuel, you will
be in a position where you MUST make the field, and you will not be able to
Go Around if there is an issue, since you are dry.

OTOH, if you land at an airport that is closer than your remaining fuel, you
may leave yourself with more options if the landing is less than uneventful.

For example, had the AA flight waited to land until he was dry, the request
to Circle to Land or the decision to land upon an active runway in the wrong
direction may have had much more dire consequences. Fortunately, the flight
still had fuel, so the circle to land manuever was possible.