Removing an Ultrium tape

I didn’t know that you can only eject an ultrium tape drive when it is completely rewound. Detailed instructions from HP on removing an Ultrium drive are provided. Our Dell technician didn’t know this and we were given the ability to remove the tape *any* way we liked when a tape was stuck in a drive that was replaced. Now I’d like to know if this would have solved the problem….
Thanks IT Technobabble