As such, an attacking pilot who finds himself in a flat scissors has transitioned from an offensive to a neutral engagement, and has lost his offensive advantage, as it represents a failure to press an initial attack into a kill, and the scissors can be difficult to disengage from without being exposed to the weapons of the bandit at close range. The bandit pilot is often surprised initially by what was likely an unobserved attack from the rear, and while he has survived a highly defensive situation that has become a somewhat neutral encounter after the overshoot, the bandit pilot must still react quickly. After the co-planar overshoot, if the bandit chooses to remain engaged with a nose-to-nose turn (that is, a turn toward the attacker in the general direction of the attacker's direction of flight) to either gain the advantage, or maintain the neutral situation, the flat scissors is a common result.