Anyone Else Want to Fly the Plane?

Last night the TV news was teasing a story that an American Airlines flight attendant had landed one of their airliners after a crew problem.  I didn't stay up to see the report but wanted to find out what happened.  Of course, reality didn't meet up with the way the story was teased:

A flight attendant who has a pilot's license replaced an ill first officer during a landing at O'Hare International Airport, officials said today.

The co-pilot of an American Airlines plane that departed San Francisco on Monday fell sick en route to Chicago, said American spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan.

"He was unable to continue his duties and he moved to the passenger cabin," Fagan said, adding that the flight's captain checked to see whether any off-duty airline pilots were on board the flight.

A female flight attendant advised the captain that she is a commercial pilot and the captain asked her to sit in the right-hand seat in the cockpit, Fagan said.

"The flight attendant became the first officer on landing," she said. "The cockpit crew did an outstanding job handling the situation."

The flight attendant helped the captain by reading off check list of procedures and she handled other tasks, in addition to providing a second set of eyes in the cockpit, Fagan said.

The plane, a Boeing 767 with 225 passengers and seven crew members on board, arrived at O'Hare at 4:24 p.m. Monday. The landing was normal, officials said.

The condition of the ill first officer was not serious, officials said. He was met on the ground at O'Hare by paramedics and transported to a local hospital, where he was treated and released.

She read the checklist and looked out the window. I could do that and I only have a private pilot's license (and I haven't used it in 30 years).  If she had actually flown the plane to a landing - that would have been impressive.