Pilot dies of suspected heart attack during flight
An Aeroflot pilot died from a suspected heart attack while the flight was making a descent.
Reports say the 49-year-old was piloting flight SU1546 from Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Anapa when he became ill, prompting the aircraft to land early at Platov International Airport in Rostov-on-Don.
Russian news outlet RT said cabin crew asked if there was a doctor on board, but no-one came forward and the pilot reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest during landing.
It added the pilot had complained about chest pains before the flight but had passed a routine medical check-up and ‘had no health indicators that would have barred him from piloting the aircraft’.
An Aeroflot spokesperson said: "Unfortunately, it was not possible to resuscitate the pilot."
An investigation has been launched.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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