What worries me most? This sort of unnecessary angst over a couple seconds adds stress for both the pilot and the ATC. Things that will not promote safety for me the passenger
Sorry Ben but you got this one wrong. The pilots have the ultimate responsibility for the safety of their plane and passengers. It is up to the pilots to make the call if they perceive controller instructions to be potentially unsafe.
What made it worse is the petty vengeance of the controller, challenging a pilot's safety call, then punishing the pilots by cancelling the clearance.
If the controller felt aggrieved, he could have followed it up afterwards. His behaviour here is shockingly unprofessional.
Apologies, was trying to comment on article, not on your specific comment, which I agree with also