MANILA: A Filipina passenger onboard a Dubai Cebu Pacific flight bound for Manila recently gave birth to a baby girl inside aircraft.
One of the “normal” flights became a memorable one when a co-passenger started having contractions mid-flight, while they were still five hours away from the Philippines, ABS-CBN News quoted passenger Missy Berberabe Umandal’ Facebook post.
“Flight attendants started calling for medical assistance, and luckily, there were two nurses among the passengers. She was already crowning, so she was brought to the more spacious area in front of the plane,” Umandal reportedly said in her post, which has gone viral.
“We only heard one semi-loud screech, and a few seconds later, there were tinier, cute screeches, and it was when we knew the baby was born. Luckily, she [passenger] only had to push once,” she added.
The passenger reportedly returned to her seat after giving birth. Another passenger provided infant clothes to the newborn, a baby girl.
“One of the passengers had a suitcase full of infant clothes and necessities, which could not have come at a better time. They had a sterilized shelf filled mineral water as a makeshift wash basin to clean the baby in,” Umandal added.
The contractions came as a surprise to the pregnant passenger, as she was expecting to give birth in October, Umandal reportedly claimed.
The plane’s pilot then decided to make an emergency landing in India to ensure the baby’s safety, causing the flight to be delayed for around 9 hours, the report said.
Despite the delay, Umandal was quoted as saying that everyone in the plane felt “blessed” because of what happened.
“To the woman, in the hopes she gets to read this: we are all hoping for your quick recovery and a lifetime of happiness to your beautiful child!” Umandal added.
Umandal claims the baby will be given free Cebu Pacific flights for life. Cebu Pacific has yet to confirm this but such is a tradition in many airlines around the world.
The baby, who Umandal said might be named “Haven,” was born in India but will carry a Philippine passport and will have a Filipino citizenship, reported ABS-CBN News.
The United Nations Convention on International Civil Aviation, under the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the baby born on a ship or aircraft will take the “citizenship” of the airline.
