American Airlines pilot dies after medical episode on flight

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Thursday, March 30, 2017
This file photo shows an American Airlines passenger jet taking off in Miami.
Alan Diaz-AP

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- 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.

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