Woman Gives Birth On Board Arik Flight To London As Plane Makes Emergency Landing

An Arik Air flight with over 100 passengers en
route to London Sunday was forced to make
an emergency landing in Palmas, Spain, as a
woman went into labour and gave birth while
the aircraft was airborne.
The pilot was said to have requested the
emergency landing on the advice of two
doctors who were on board the aircraft and
had helped the mother deliver the baby.
When the passenger went into labour,
the cabin crew  asked that doctors on board
the flight to identify themselves. Following the
announcement, two of the passengers came
forward, saying they were doctors and
assisted in the delivery of the baby.
Normally, a source disclosed that in the few
instances where women have given birth on
board, the aircraft would continue its flight
to its final destination. However, the Arik
flight was forced to make an emergency
landing following the advice of the doctors
that the woman was bleeding excessively - she
was said to have experienced excessive
hemorrhaging, necessitating the emergency
landing.
At the time of this report, both mother and
child were said to have been stable but were
left behind in Palmas for monitoring by
medical personnel, while the flight continued
on its journey to London.
The airline was trying to ascertain if the
woman had presented a false medical report
from her doctor on the true duration of her
pregnancy or she had gone into premature
labour while on board the flight.
Women with full term pregnancies are not
allowed to travel by air , according to
International Civil Aviation Organisation
(ICAO) regulations. As such, intending
pregnant passengers are required to present
medical reports certifying that they are less
than 32 weeks pregnant before they are
allowed to fly.
A source said the airline was carrying out a
full-scale investigation to ascertain the
genuineness of the medical report presented
by the woman.
Arik Air’s management said yesterday that if it
is discovered that the woman was given a
false report to enable  her fly, it would file a
special complaint against the doctor who had
issued the medical report to the Nigeria
Medical Association (NMA) for endangering
her life and that of the baby, as well that of
other passengers on board the flight.