- except the 'co-pilot' was NOT qualified in that seat, which I think you will find renders it illegal?
Was he not?
Then if that was the case the flight was illegal from the very start. What if none of this had happened and the Commander (in the right seat) became incapacitated?
My understanding is that the pilot in the left seat was being line-trained to complete a command course. It was a passenger carrying flight and therefore that pilot would have been type rated and have demonstraed the ability to fly from the left seat.
If the pilot in the left seat was not fully type rated and was unable to fly safely from that seat then there are bigger issues here than who was sitting in the right seat.