Could have gone the same way as EgyptAir 990
Remember there also the Co-pilot was also "PF" of a 67 and solo in the cockpit back in 1999. Same scenario, CP goes pottie and a change of flight plan and single pilot operation takes over. I think that ET, the real estate flown over, persons living in that flight path and the pax can consider themselves very, very lucky nothing worse came out of this. Of course like the "Swiss" cheese model, were there any clues lining up prior (during initial hiring, screenings, security checks, medicals, sim sessions, line training) leading up to this that should have been flagged?
Sadly as we've seen in the past, ET will deny any wrong doing in their business model, hiring system (ET 409 in 2010) and checking!
I look very forward to the CVR transcript and pax word-of-mouth on this event. No doubt a real drama unfolded in the forward galley and J-class! Obviously no hero's here, except the fact this FO still respect life and property as not to harm anyone directly. Mental trauma aside!