Piecing together an aborted landing

[stravers]

Hi,

Last night I was a passenger on United 5772 from IAD to LGA.  The flight was delayed for about 5 hours, and finally gained takeoff clearance from IAD at 7:16 PM EST 12/27/11.  LGA is a bumpy landing under normal conditions, but we ended up aborting the landing at LGA and landing at BDL.  It seems like we're getting more and more of these flash weather conditions lately in the NE.  

My hat goes off to the pilots for successfully aborting the landing and bringing us down safely at BDL, because the conditions were extremely bad and the CRJ was practically out of control on the LGA approach.  From my seat in 1A I could hear multiple warning indicators going off in the cockpit.  

So, I'm reconstructing the ATC from this flight.  So far I have the IAD takeoff and departure communications, and will check out the LGA approach next, followed by BDL.  

Questions-

1. Why is LGA tower unavailable?
2. Newb question, why are ATC recordings so noisy in general?  As a lay-person it's surprising how indiscernable some of the recordings are given the current technology.  Are they clearer to the pilots and controllers?

[notaperfectpilot]

In answer to your second question, the atc recordings are noisy for this reason: radio like what we are doing here is received by line of sight. The reason the some feeds have more noise then others are because the receiver may be further/closer to the airport, may have or not have certain obstructions. Other things also cause interference such as sometimes power lines or other electronic devices.

For the post part, pilots and controllers will hear each other better because the pilots are in the air and are away from most obstructions. Of course, it might be harder for the pilot or controller to hear each other is the pilot is farther away.

[K5PAT]

1. Why is LGA tower unavailable?
2. Newb question, why are ATC recordings so noisy in general?  As a lay-person it's surprising how indiscernable some of the recordings are given the current technology.  Are they clearer to the pilots and controllers?

Dave, I'm sure, will answer #1, but my guess is that the feed provider cannot get close enough to the tower to receive tower transmissions clear enough to put over the internet.
#2 was answered by notaperfect pilot.  Pilots have the advantage of height and direct line of site with controllers, so they almost always have a clear reception and vice-versa.