A woman gave birth “real quick” during an American Airlines flight last week, her sister said, after boarding the plane seven months pregnant.
A TikToker named Kendall documented the incident, which happened last Wednesday, in a series of viral videos.
The labour occurred on an AA flight from New York’s JFK airport bound for the Dominican Republic on 7 September, Kendall said.
She said that her sister had complained of pain on the drive to the airport, joking on the way that she could go into labour in the car as the bumpy road was making her side hurt.
She said the pain continued once they were on the aircraft, but her sister did not think she was going into labour.
Kendall said: “Being pregnant, if you sit a certain way, you get cramps.
“If you sit a certain way, your back hurts. If you sit a certain way, you’re feeling pain somewhere – so we didn’t take it as anything.”
Once the pregnant sister’s water broke, the pair – who were also travelling with their brother – alerted a flight attendant to what was happening.
Medics on the aircraft were called to the back of the plane where Kendall’s sister gave birth to her son within just 30 minutes.
The delivery – which Kendall joked was an “airdrop” – was assisted by four women on board who were nurses.
Kendall said: “It was like 30 minutes. It was quick, it was real quick.
“Even every passenger on the plane was like, ‘She’s finished already? She did that already?’”
Passengers applauded when the boy’s birth was announced.
The plane made an emergency landing in the Dominican Republic and the woman was taken off in a wheelchair to be taken to a hospital.
While they were disembarking, one of the nurses took the baby on his first trip to the cockpit so that the pilots could meet him.
AA confirmed in a statement the birth took place on one of their flights.
It said: “On Sept 7, American Airlines flight 2443 from New York (JFK) to Punta Cana (PUJ) declared an emergency before landing due a medical emergency on board.
“First responders met the flight upon landing and the customer was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.”
Kendall said her sister and the baby – who was born two months premature – have been in good health.
Some TikTok users suggested that his name should be Sky or Skyler.
Another asked: “I’m curious tho, what’s the place of birth on the certificate?”
The American Airlines passenger isn’t the first person to give birth at several thousand feet.
In January, a woman gave birth to a healthy baby boy on board an 11-hour United Airlines flight from Accra, Ghana to Washington DC.
Meanwhile in May, another passenger gave birth on board a Frontier Airlines flight from Denver to Orlando.
Flight attendant Diana Giraldo, who assisted in the birth, was praised by the pilot for her “exemplary” and “calm” composure during the delivery.
