Note to self: Spend a few more hours with MicroSoft Flight Simulator ...
Seriously, the copilot-turned-Captain utilized excellent CRM (Cockpit Resource Management) by calling in re-enforcements (the Pilot/Passenger).
While smaller jets (Cessna Citation, Lear, etc) can be flown single-pilot, a 757 requires one person to handle 'housekeeping' (radios, GPS, checklists, etc) while the other actually flys the plane. The Passenger-now-Co-Pilot was assigned the 'housekeeping'.
Whether large (757) or small (Cessna 172), the standardization skills learned during flight training (procedures, air traffic protocols, in-cockpit routines, etc.) remain pretty much the same. It becomes a transferrable skill set.
I wasn't aware that a Private Pilot/passenger had been pressed into service, but the Captain showed good judgement by not allowing his own ego ("I can save the day all by my self") get in the way.
Both pilots, in my book, are "cool dudes"...
Brown, who has logged 150 hours of flight time since he got his pilot's license 1 1/2 years ago, got the nod over his companion.
"When I sat in the right seat, the captain looked at me and asked, 'When was the last time you flew?' '' he said. "I told him last week and he said, 'Good, you're current.'
Certainly having a knowledgeable pilot acting as an emergency co-pilot made the captain a lot more comfortable about the task in front of him.
I've flown as a passenger a couple of times on a private corporation twin engine prop aircraft with a pilot who was past retirement age (65). I wondered what would happen if something happened to him in flight and none of us know how to pilot a plane. BTW, is there a federal age maximum (70 or so) beyond which you can not pilot a plane?