Advice on why the diver's extension won't snap down on this Submariner clasp?

[AEC]

A colleague and I were talking watches today, and he showed me a problem with the clasp of his Submariner. The clasp on his 14060 doesn't snap closed properly, and upon closer inspection we realized it's because the diver's extension won't snap all the way down into its retracted position.

I'm not experienced with 5-digit Submariner clasp construction, but after studying it for a while I came to the conclusion that the bar attaching the diver's extension to the clasp is probably squished out of shape, and it's preventing the folded extension from snapping past it and down into the clasp. I'll be grateful if members more experienced than me with these components will have a look and share your thoughts.

If pieces here do appear bent out of spec, then I suppose I'll disassemble and attempt to form them back to their original shape (no harm in trying, I suppose). Alternatively, is it possible to simply remove the diver's extension and attach the clasp directly to the bracelet?

Thanks in advance for any insight you can share!