A woman gave birth to a baby boy over the weekend while on an 11-hour flight from Ghana to the United States.
United Airlines says that its crew “acted quickly” to ensure the delivery occurred safely on Flight 997. The 787-8 aircraft departed Accra, Ghana, on Saturday and arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport Sunday morning.
“We were especially thrilled to see the plane land with one extra, especially beautiful, customer onboard,” United said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
UNITED OPENS FIRST FLIGHT ACADEMY OWNED BY MAJOR US AIRLINE
TV personality and style coach Nancy Adobea Anane was on Flight 997 when the birth occurred and posted footage of the mother and infant to her social media. The mother, who has not been identified, is a Ghanaian resident who lives in New York.
Anane told NBC News that a Ghanaian doctor volunteered to help with the birth after one of the pilots issued a call for assistance. The doctor was assisted by a flight attendant who was a former nurse, Anane said. The birthing process took an estimated two hours and primarily occurred on the cabin floor between the emergency exits, CNN reported. The mother was then cleaned up and escorted back to her seat as the plane landed.
The “bouncy baby boy was delivered two hours to landing,” or around 3:40 a.m. EST, Anane said. Airport paramedics met the flight upon its arrival at 5:41 a.m. EST, according to CNN.
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Plane births are rare but not unheard of in the aviation industry. An Afghan woman delivered her child while flying aboard an evacuation aircraft in August. Another child was reportedly born during a flight, only to be abandoned in a trash bin on New Year’s Day.
