Thursday evening, the captain of a United Airlines flight from Houston to Seattle suffered a fatal heart attack, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Boise.
The flight crew reportedly made an in-flight announcement asking if anyone aboard was a physician. A doctor and two army soldiers responded and performed CPR on the pilot, while another passenger who trains Boeing 737 helped the copilot land the plane, according to NBC News.
"We got a man down, chest compressions going on right now. I'm not sure too much right now the status," a United crew member told air traffic control. "Can an ambulance and maybe some air stairs meet us on the runway?"
The flight landed safely in Boise 15 minutes after the emergency was reported, and the pilot was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he later died. “I am sad to confirm that our co-worker passed away last night,” United Airlines spokeswoman Christen David said in an email to NBC News. “Our thoughts are with his family at this time.
The 161 passengers and five surviving crew members made it to Seattle about four hours later, after another pilot was flown in from San Francisco.
Pilot Suffers Fatal Heart Attack Mid-Flight, Forcing Emergency Landing