That sounds so frustrating, dealing with fake complaints for months with no way to prove yourself. Getting the camera was smart, not escalation, you just protected yourself when nothing else worked.

Had almost the same thing happen to me on a dam job, my hose wrapped around a piece of scrap cable down about 25 feet. I stayed calm and worked my way back up the line hand over hand till I could reach the tangle and cut it with my dive knife. Getting the tender to keep just enough tension on the line makes all the difference when you're fighting something like that.

Wiggle test with the plane jacked up" is the part people miss. Everyone wants to wiggle stuff on the ground sitting still, then acts shocked when the gremlin hides. Flex and vibration are the whole point. I've found more bad pins and shield strands wiggling than any meter ever showed me. Bonding meter tells you resistance, not whether a strand taps a can when the gear comes up. Do both, but wiggle first.