Thanks for the reply, GT.
The amount of "lore" versus actual systems knowledge that accrues to an airframe, helicopter or fixed wing, grows and shrinks as facts fill in the blanks. It could very well have been some of that "lore" that led the pilot in command into thinking he had time that he didn't actually have. As that point has been beaten into the ground and covered again and again in this thread, I'll leave it at that.