Pitot / Static failures are, as already said, particularly nasty. Even when an exercise of this nature is pre-briefed in the sim for training, the 1st attempt often ends in a mess, so if this event did not end up with aircraft exceedances and proper control was maintained throughout, - very well done to the crew.
Interestingly, this is one of the few areas where corporate aviation has safer practices than airline ops. Almost all corporate pilots fit pitot covers (and, depending on climate, often engine covers as well) even for single night stops. In my experience, this never happened in airlines.
Cheers all