Originally Posted by
gnetwerker
Best wishes to the stricken pilot and hopes for a speedy recovery. I suffered a heart attack some years ago, and know what it feels like ... not good.
With due respect to all involved, I suspect that the quote is either being mis-reported, or was a slip of the tongue, with the intention of asking for passengers with medical experience (which is what they got, per the article).
The First Officer ("Co-Pilot") of any commercial flight is more than capable of operating and landing a plane without help from a passenger. Asking a passenger into the cockpit in an emergency (for purposes of flying, rather than providing medical assistance) would be a highly questionable decision.
I hope that someone with insider knowledge will comment on this.
I saw some interviews on the ground.
1. One of the nurses said she asked the co-pilot if he/she could land the plane. I did a facepalm on that one.
2. There was a ex-military pilot brought up as well, so yes, they *must have* asked for anyone with flight experience.
There is no doubt that the copilot could land the plane successfully. I gathered the "co-co-pilot pro-tem" was there to do things like read checklists and the like and function as the non-landing pilot. I sure wouldn't want him touching any dials or knobs.