Fish are ok if they are out of the tank for a few hours. They should be isolated and given a bit of Stress Coat, but most times they will make a full comeback.
Sorry to hear about your fella, if it makes you feel any better, some fish are just prone to "carpet surfing". I am actually babysitting a tiretrack eel in my 210gal that has made several surfing attempts. His name is now fuzz (short for carpet fuzz).