They are not just focusing on JetBlue, both the DOT and the FAA will investigate their procedures (which is the real issue, the pilot can only do what they are told to do, it just happened to be a JetBlue plane this time)

U.S. officials are looking at JetBlue Flight 504 and “several other” flights in which passengers may have been stranded more than three hours, the Transportation Department said in a statement today. The Federal Aviation Administration said it is conducting a “comprehensive review” of how the air- traffic system responded to the inclement weather.

The Port Authority in New York has no problem blaming the FAA -

Some flights were diverted during the storm because of “intermittent problems with the FAA’s ground-based air traffic control systems” at New York’s Kennedy and New Jersey’s Newark Liberty airports, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement.


though having the pilot say on the radio to the tower and rebroadcast all over the news

“We can’t seem to get any help from our own company,” the pilot said in an air traffic control recording posted on LiveATC.net. “Is there any way you can get a tug and a towbar out to us and get us towed somewhere to a gate or something? I don’t care, take us anywhere.”


will make people assume the blame lies with JetBlue. The news doesn't report facts, they report for ratings. The JetBlue flight had several sports writers flying up for the Miami game, so they were able to call it in realtime with the right people and present just the one side. There will be plenty of blame to go around, most with the FAA but after tonight the story will go away and people will only remember it was a Jetblue flight.