Ah, but you give too much credit to the source! The Dail Mail is a UK rag, and seeing how the Limeys have become French Poodles it makes sense their writers are stuck in the 20 Century.
My bet is the author viewed Top Gun to prep for the assignment ; - )
Yeah you're prolly right.
When writing my post I was assuming that someone in charge at the Daily Mail has an IQ above room temperature.