Biz47,
let me try to summarise.
Your question: was the trajectory optimal?
The current answer: who knows?
The next question: who cares? Is this going to happen again?
The current answers: few people; and, who knows?
The next question: should resources be devoted to finding and teaching the optimal trajectory, should this kind of thing ever happen at 700' again?
Answer: I dunno. Does anybody?
PBL