A woman has been arrested after a baby was found dead in the toilet of a commercial aircraft.

Indonesian police said they detained the suspected mother, named Hani, following the discovery at Jakarta Airport.

Officers suspect the 37-year-old secretly gave birth during a flight from Abu Dhabi to the Indonesian capital on Saturday.

The migrant worker, from Cianjur in western Java, had been ill during the Etihad flight and forced the pilot to divert to Bangkok.

Around four hours after takeoff Hani is understood to have begun to bleed, resulting in the captain seeking medical help.


She was removed from the plane in Thailand, but the dead newborn was not found until the flight arrived at its eventual destination.

Hani flew home on a later flight.

"The woman was in economy class but then laid on a business class seat with an oxygen mask," crew member Francesco Calore told AFP.

"The captain then announced we should divert to Bangkok."

Jakarta Airport police chief Ahmad Yusef told AFP ground cleaners found the full-term infant wrapped in a plastic bag in a drawer in one of the plane's toilets.

He said the cause of death had yet to be determined.

Police say Hani worked as a domestic helper in Abu Dhabi for four years.

Mr Yusef said: "She didn't look healthy and won't be questioned until she is fit. The woman is now at the airport's health centre."

An estimated 5,000,000 Indonesians work abroad, with around 70% of them women working in domestic service.