In a news statement to the media, an American Airlines spokesperson said, "Unfortunately, our pilot passed away. We are incredibly saddened by this event and we are focused on caring for our pilot's family and colleagues."

"I want to take a moment to thank Mike's crewmembers on Flight 550. They took extraordinary care of Mike, each other and our customers. We couldn't be more proud of the teamwork this crew showed during an extremely difficult time."

Johnston's wife told a local news outlet in Salt Lake City that her husband had a double bypass surgery in 2006, and he had heart problems for years. It was later learned that Johnson had died during the flight and medics waiting on the tarmac had pronounced him dead at the scene.

American Airlines sent out a new flight crew and just before noon time, Flight 550 departed New York for Boston, it landed at 12:30 PM. The FAA reported that since 1994, only 7 pilots for the U.S. airlines have died during flight.