A Seattle-bound Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport Thursday night after one of its pilots apparently passed out mid-flight, according to the airline.

Flight 473 landed a little after 9 p.m. and the male captain was taken to a hospital in the area for an evaluation, said Paul McElroy, an Alaska Airlines spokesman. None of the flight's 116 passengers or other crew members were hurt. What caused the pilot to lose consciousness is not known.

The plane left Los Angeles International Airport a little before 6:40 p.m. and the 28-year veteran pilot passed out on the flight deck while the aircraft was traveling over Oregon, McElroy said. He soon regained consciousness and was helped to the main cabin.

One of the passengers, who is a doctor, tended to the captain as the first officer landed the plane in Portland. The flight was originally scheduled to land at 9:30 p.m. at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, McElroy said.

Instead, 20 passengers were re-booked onto a Horizon shuttle to Seattle that left Portland at 9:30 p.m. The other passengers will leave on the same plane with a new captain around 12:30 a.m. and are scheduled to arrive at Sea-Tac around 1:15 a.m.

A similar incident occurred during a Jan. 22 flight from Seattle to Las Vegas, McElroy said. In that case, the first officer went unconscious while the plane was over Nevada and the plane's captain landed the plane solo.

McElroy said the pilot recovered, but he did not know of a cause.

"We're confident these two cases are unrelated," he said. "Just a really bizarre coincidence."

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