US Pilot Suffers Heart Attack During Flight, Dies

A United Airlines flight had to be diverted after its ’300lb’ captain suffered a fatal heart attack late Thursday night, forcing an off-duty pilot to take over control of the plane.

The Seattle-bound flight 1603 from Houston had to make an emergency landing in Boise airport with the help of an off-duty pilot – who just happened to be a passenger on the plane – while others stepped in to help a doctor performing CPR.

Captain Henry Rockwell Skillern, of Humble, Texas was still alive when he arrived at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center but later died, spokeswoman Jennifer Krajnik said on Friday.

See his photo after the cut:



Passenger Ken Martin told Seattle TV station KOMO that a first-year resident doctor sitting next to him volunteered to help perform CPR.

She was one of two Army radiology residents on the flight who tried to save the captain.

She told Martin the pilot appeared to weigh over 300lbs and was taken from the cockpit into the first class cabin where the CPR was performed.

She was visibly upset, Martin told KOMO, when she returned to her seat as they could not revive him.

Two Madigan Army Medical Center doctors onboard performed CPR, according to Jay Ebbeson, a spokesman for the hospital at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Ebberson said the two are captains and radiology residents who were returning to the base near Tacoma, Wash., from a medical course at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.

As the medical emergency unfolded somewhere in the skies between Houston and Seattle, the plane’s first officer gave air traffic controllers an update on the situation.

‘We got a man down, chest compressions going on right now,’ the crew member said over the radio. ‘I’m not sure too much right now on status.’

United Airlines spokeswoman Christen David said another off-duty United Airlines pilot was onboard and helped land the plane.

Despite the emergency, passenger Bryant Magill described a calm scene on-board.

‘I’m really impressed with all the flight attendants,’ Magill told KOMO. ‘They kept themselves calm. They kept it professional. There was no panic on the plane.’

‘I am sad to confirm that our co-worker passed away last night. Our thoughts are with his family at this time,’ Miss David said in an email.

The coroner indicated that Mr Skillern died from an acute myocardial infraction and listed the cause of death as natural, the station KBOI2 reported.

Another off-duty United pilot was onboard and helped land the plane, David said.

Pilots are required to get medical certificates that show they don’t have major heart problems, according to the Federal Aviation Administration website.

In 2007, the mandatory pilot retirement age was raised from 60 to 65.
AA regulations call for a medical examination every six months for pilots over age 40 and annual EKG tests after they turn 40.

There were 161 passengers and six crew members on board the flight, which then left Boise Airport for Seattle just before midnight.

According to online records, Henry Rockwell Skillern, better known to his loved ones as ‘Rocky,’ married 49-year-old Miranda Moris in September 2007. His tragic death comes only a week after the couple’s six-year anniversary.

His Google+ account indicates that Mr. Skillern graduated from University of Texas at Austin and lived for a time in Acapulco, Mexico.