A United Airlines pilot suffered an apparent heart attack in midair on a flight to Seattle on Thursday evening, and later died after the plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Boise, Idaho, a hospital spokeswoman told NBC News.
A doctor and military personnel reportedly attempted to save the pilot’s life by administering CPR amid a dramatic scene, as another passenger rushed to help get the plane safely to the ground.
The spokeswoman at Saint Alphonsus Hospital in Boise confirmed the pilot’s death on Friday morning. United Airlines spokeswoman Christen David said that the flight’s captain was the individual involved in an email to NBC News.
The pilot was alive when he arrived at the local hospital but died during the night while being treated, hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Krajnik told the Associated Press.
“I am sad to confirm that our co-worker passed away last night,” David said. “Our thoughts are with his family at this time.”
Boise Airport spokeswoman Patti Miller told Reuters that the airport received a call “at about 7:55 p.m. Mountain Time declaring an emergency, they said the pilot had had a heart attack.”
“We’ve got a man down, chest compressions going on right now,” a co-pilot said to the Boise tower, according to a recording of the flight-to-tower communication.
The plane landed less than 15 minutes later, Miller told the news service.
