American Airlines pilot dies after medical episode on flight

An American Airlines Boeing 787-800 (corporate stock photo courtesy of American Airlines)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - An American Airlines pilot died after having a medical episode just before landing in Albuquerque.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that the captain declared a medical emergency on flight 1353 a couple of minutes before landing at Albuquerque International Sunport on Wednesday evening.

A spokesman for the airline tells the newspaper that the captain landed the flight from Dallas-Fort Worth without incident. The plane taxied normally to a gate and was met by paramedics. American Airlines first officer William "Mike" Grubbs was pronounced dead.

There was no immediate word on a cause of death.

In 2015, an American Airlines pilot died on a flight from Phoenix to Boston.