Nonsense. If called before such a Committee, said person, of whatever rank, should be 100% prepared to defend his corner - and more. This man wasn't
I don't see what there was to "defend"; a question was asked and the answer deliberately misinterpreted for who-knows-what-purpose.
The object of these sessions is not to deceive the Committee, it is to provide them with facts and informed opinion.
Ms Moon was being a pedant and scoring cheap points in her first assertion that "we don't know how many aircraft we have". The decision to ignore that stupidity was wise - it probably wasn't the only jibe thrown - and they only go in one direction at these sessions.
To calmly correct her when she felt like repeating the bollox was exactly what was required.