A doctor on board the Boing 757 attempted to revive the pilot, 44-year-old Sergei Golyev, but was unsuccessful.

A spokesperson for Tolmachyovo airport in Novosibirsk told Life News that Golyev was flying as a passenger on the overnight flight, not as one of the plane's pilots. An investigator said the doctor's attempts to save Golyev's life took place in the pilot's cabin.

The co-pilot decided to make an emergency landing in China to get medical assistance for Golyev, but the afflicted pilot died before the plane made its descent, the Life News report said. The plane then continued to its original destination, landing Friday morning.

No one on board the flight was injured.