Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher hospitalised after in-flight heart attack

Fisher, 60, is in a stable condition after being rushed to hospital following a “cardiac episode” on a translatlantic flight.

Carrie Fisher in 2013
Carrie Fisher in 2013

Star Wars actress and accomplished author Carrie Fisher is reported to be in a stable condition after suffering what has been described as a “cardiac episode” on a translatlantic flight.

Fisher, 60, was rushed to UCLA Medical Center by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics earlier today, after her 11-hour flight landed at LAX.

In an official statement, United Airlines said that medical personnel met Flight 935 from London upon its arrival, following crew reports that a passenger was unresponsive.

"Our thoughts are with our customer at this time," the statement read.

A short time before touch down, a pilot informed the control tower that nurses who happened to be passengers on the flight were attending to an "unresponsive" passenger. Paramedics performed CPR on the actress at the airport.

Fisher, who rose to stardom playing Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, is also a published author with 8 to her name.

News of Fisher's plight sparked an outpouring of goodwill and moral support on social media.

Chewbacca actor and Fisher’s co-star, Peter Mayhew, tweeted "thoughts and prayers for our friend and everyone's favorite princess right now."

Thoughts and prayers for our friend and everyone's favorite princess right now. Actor Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, also took to Twitter: "as if 2016 couldn't get any worse... sending all our love to @carrieffisher,"  he wrote.