An Aeroflot spokesman told local media that "unfortunately it was not possible to resuscitate the pilot". (File photo).

A pilot has died after suffering a heart attack on a flight in Russia.

The Aeroflot Airbus A320 he was flying had to make an emergency landing at the southern Russian airport in Rostov-on-Don.

The 49-year-old is said to have "died during the landing" despite the efforts of paramedics, reports the Daily Star.

Flight SU1546 was flying from Moscow to the resort town of Anapa on the Black Sea.

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An Aeroflot spokesman told local media that "unfortunately it was not possible to resuscitate the pilot.

"He died in the ambulance. We express our sincere condolences to his family and friends."

Pilot deaths during flights are rare. In most cases, the other pilot in the cockpit has been able to land the plane without further incident.

In 2017, a pilot died soon making an emergency landing in Albuquerque International Sunport in the US.

In 2015, the captain of an American Airlines jet became ill and died during a late-night flight from Phoenix. The co-pilot of the Boston-bound plane made an emergency landing in Syracuse, New York.

A United Airlines pilot suffered a heart attack during a flight from Houston to Seattle that made an emergency landing in Boise, Idaho. He died several hours later at a hospital.

- with AP