Clearly I have no idea what happened here, but.........
During my time on HERMES in 82, a fellow GR3 mate was due to take off and was lined up at a distance from the front end which he thought was too short based on his VSTOL calculations and the given wind over deck. He said "that is too short", but was told no, that is the correct distance. After a minor discussion, he did what was required by the RN - "do as you are told" - confirmed that his "Master Arm" was on, visually checked for the "Clear Aircraft" bar, and "did as he was told".
Of no surprise when he left the front end, he was not climbing away to fly, but sinking towards the oggin - so he pressed the "Clear Aircraft" bar, which reduced his weight sufficiently to fly away.
Well done him - but I don't think he got a "BZ" from the RN - or the RAF - for saving the aircraft - or even an acknowledgment that he was correct, and the RN was wrong.
Obviously no prospect of a repeat error in the current climate!!