An American Airlines flight from Phoenix to Boston made an emergency landing at Syracuse, N.Y., Hancock International Airport after one of the pilots died in flight.
American confirmed that the captain of American Flight 550 passed away this morning after the crew reported a medical emergency, though it did not know the exact nature of the emergency. The Fort Worth-based airline is not releasing the name of the the pilot right now.
American and the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that American Flight 550, an Airbus A320 aircraft, landed around 7:10 a.m. today in Syracuse.
“At that point in time that is when our pilot passed,” said American spokeswoman Andrea Huguely. “Our thoughts are with his wife and his family and his colleagues. And we are making sure the needs of the family are being taken care of.”
The first officer, the other pilot on the plane, did not fly the rest of the flight, Huguely said. American flew a relief crew from Philadelphia to Syracuse and the new crew continued the last leg of the flight to Boston, landing around 11:30 a.m., she said.
“It’s standard procedure to remove a crew member when something like this happens,” Huguely said. “You want to make sure the crew is taken care of.”
The SavvyStews website first reported the incident this morning, saying the American red-eye flight was diverted to Syracuse because one of the pilots “passed away in flight.”
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