Originally published on September 28, 2013

Plane makes emergency landing: A United Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft was diverted to Boise, Idaho to make an emergency landing after the captain suffered an in-flight heart attack on Thursday night (September 26), according to an airline spokeswoman.

Reuters reports, "Seattle-bound United flight 1603, which took off from Houston with 161 passengers on board, landed safely and the pilot was rushed to a local hospital, Boise Airport spokeswoman Patti Miller said."

Two military medical residents on board attempted to administer life saving manoeuvres to Captain Henry Skillern, 63, before the plane landed. However, Skillern died in hospital.

According to the BBC, the aircraft's first officers radioed the Boise airport's control tower at 19:55 (2:55 GMT) on Thursday to report the medical emergency. The plane landed at the airport by 20:10, and firefighters who transported Skillern to a local hospital, where he later succumbed to the fatal heart attack.

Another pilot took over the flight and flew the plane on to its final destination in Seattle, with the aircraft landing just after midnight local time.

Skillern was a Texas resident who had worked for the airline for 26 years.

--------------------------------------------------------

TomoNews is your daily source for top animated news. We've combined animation and video footage with a snarky personality to bring you the biggest and best stories from around the world.

For news that's fun and never boring, visit our channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/TomoNewsUS

Subscribe to stay updated on all the top stories:
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsUS

Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://gplus.to/TomoNewsUS