[CGASMIA68]

If I recall during Carrier ops when you hit the deck and cable, full power is applied for reasons just like this one.
Pilot was following procedures

[antidisestablishment]

The crew did a great job. Those cable barriers on ships are amazing, but dangerous as hell. The crew on the deck have serious intestinal fortitude, and I’m sorry to hear of their injuries.

Barriers are dangerous animals, both on ship and ground. We had a F4 land with an in-flight emergency and his hook missed the barrier. He powered up to come back around, but the barrier was engaged and stopped the plane dead in the air. It put both wheels through the wings and totaled the aircraft. The pilot survived, though he was severely injured.

[USNBandit]

Full power is applied in case you miss the wires completely. The arresting gear is built to stop the aircraft at full power. The thing that saved these guys is having full power applied and an aircraft with an approach speed of 100 knots with a stall speed of 70. The ship will nominally be driving at a speed to produce 24 knot of wind over the deck.

All things considered, one would still need a specialist for the seatcushionectomy required after an event like this.