Pada tanggal 23 Desember 2016, Fisher mengalami serangan[[gagal jantung]] dalam penerbangan dari London ke Los Angeles;<ref name=":1">{{cite web |url=http://time.com/4618441/carrie-fisher-dead/ |title=Carrie Fisher, Celebrated Star Wars Actor, Dies at 60 |last=Kimble |first=Lyndsay |date=December 27, 2016 |website=TIME |publisher=TIME Inc. |access-date=December 27, 2016 |quote=Fisher was flying ... when she went into cardiac arrest.}}{{cite news|last=Mele|first=Christopher|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/23/movies/carrie-fisher-hospitalized-after-medical-episode-on-plane.html|title=Carrie Fisher in Intensive Care After Medical Episode on Plane|date=December 24, 2016|accessdate=December 24, 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>{{efn|Transmisi radio dan panggilan darurat menyebutkan kata-kata "''cardiac episode''" dan "''cardiac arrest''". Saksi mata percaya bahwa mereka melihat Fisher mengalami serangan jantung;<ref name=latimes>{{cite news|last1=Winton|first1=Richard|last2=Serna|first2=Joseph|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-carrie-fisher-cardiac-20161223-story.html|title=Actress Carrie Fisher is in critical condition after a cardiac episode on flight from London to L.A.|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url-access=limited|date=December 23, 2016|accessdate=December 23, 2016}}</ref> sejumlah kantor berita seperti NBC News, ''New York Daily News'', dan ''The Houston Chronicle'' menggunakan istilah "serangan jantung besar".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/news/story?hl=en&pz=1&ned=us&ncl=d8D_HMQC32EjvcMzEwmJJV6t8LIUM&lr=en&rfilter=0&q=massive&btnC=Go|title=(Google News search)|accessdate=December 24, 2014|website=[[Google]]}}</ref>}} Aktris [[Anna Akana]] yang duduk di dekatnya melaporkan bahwa Fisher berhenti bernapas.<ref name=slate>{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/12/23/carrie_fisher_in_critical_condition_after_suffering_heart_attack_on_plane.html|title=Carrie Fisher in Intensive Care After Suffering Heart Attack on Plane|first=Daniel|last=Politi|date=December 23, 2016|accessdate=December 24, 2014|work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]}}</ref> Seorang penumpang melakukan [[resusitasi jantung paru|CPR]] sampai paramedis tiba. Setelah dilarikan ke [[Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center]] menggunakan ambulans, ia diberi ventilator.<ref>
*[http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/carrie-fisher-princess-leia-in-star-wars-dead-at-60-w457713 Rolling Stone Fisher death, December 27 2016]
*{{Cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2016/12/23/carrie-fisher-heart-attack/95806310/|title=Carrie Fisher's condition unclear after medical emergency|newspaper=USA TODAY|access-date=December 24, 2016}}</ref>
