A United Airlines jet captain suffered a heart attack late Thursday while in flight to Seattle.

The pilot had a heart attack on the Seattle-bound flight 1603 and died after making an emergency landing in Boise, Idaho. The flight, which launched from Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport, had 161 passengers on board. The pilot's name was not released to the public for privacy reasons.

Boise Airport spokeswoman Patti Miller revealed on Friday that the pilot died of a medical emergency.

"I am sad to confirm that our co-worker passed away last night," United spokeswoman Christen David said in a Friday statement. "Our thoughts are with his family at this time."

A crew member asked those in flight if there were any physicians in the group before communicating with air traffic control about the suffering pilot, according to USA Today.

"We got a man down, chest compressions going on right now. I'm not sure too much right now the status," the crew member told air traffic control. "Can an ambulance and maybe some air stairs meet us on the runway?"

At the Boise Airport, another pilot was flown in from San Francisco, promptly taking over the Boeing 737-900 plane and landing in Seattle a little after midnight local time.

Tags: pilot