gums;
The two incidents that strike home are Sully's ditch and the Sioux City DC-10 landing attempt. After their initial actions, and not getting results, both crews went on to new territory and did not sit there for 3 minutes doing the same thing.
...and the British Airways B747 Flight 9 encounter with volcanic ash at Jakarta. Your point is well taken. In other words, these crews knew their aircraft and flew it. If something didn't work, they adapted through knowledge and experience.