Escape pod malfunction

I duplicated it. My flagship was destroyed, my escape pod launched, I selected a wing ship as my destination and it froze. I closed the game and went back in and was back at the beginning of the battle.

This time, I immediately clicked on my escape pod then clicked on a wing ship and selected it as my destination and it worked. I may not have clicked on my escape pod the prior times it crashed but i'm not sure.

What is the exact sequence of events that lead to a successful escape pod launch and recovery?