‘He just popped out’: Woman gives birth on flight, baby gets free tickets for life

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Updated: Jun 28, 2017 16:26 IST

A new-born baby was awarded a lifetime of free flights on a US airlines after his mother gave birth while travelling from Fort Lauderdale to Dallas.

Cristina Penton from Arizona, who was 36 weeks pregnant, went into labour on June 25 shortly after the Spirit Airlines flight took off, but luckily there were a paediatrician and a nurse on board, who rushed to her help.

“Everything started happening very quickly ... I didn’t think I was having the baby because it was too soon, but after a few minutes I knew I needed medical attention,” Penton told The New Orleans Advocate. “Soon after that, it was clear I was having my baby, and I was in pure panic.”

The dramatic delivery on the flight was recorded by a co-passenger at the behest of the mother and now the video has gone viral.

Co-passenger Shelley Hedgecock Starks, who shot the video, took to Facebook to share her experience. “We just experienced the birth of a baby in the seat in front of us on our flight and had to do an emergency landing in New Orleans,” Starks wrote.

In a sweet gesture, the airline has gifted the baby free flights during his birthday month for the rest of his life.

“A baby being born during a flight is very rare,” the spokesperson of the airlines said in a press conference on Tuesday morning, according to The New Orleans Advocate.

“But our flight attendants are trained to handle medical emergencies in flight and they have access to doctors on the ground via in-flight communication. In this case, we were fortunate to also have a paediatrician on board who brought even more care and comfort to the situation,” he added.

Since being posted on June 25, the video has garnered more than 93,000 views and more than 500 shares on Facebook alone.

One user wrote: “WOW !!! Some Babies just make their appearance when they are ready. What a Beautiful Baby ++”

Inflight births are rare but not unheard of. Earlier this month, a woman from Kerala gave birth to a baby mid-air on a Jet Airways plane flying from Saudi Arabia to India.

The airlines announced that the child, the first baby to be born in flight for Jet Airways, would get a free lifetime pass for any travel on the carrier.

Here’s the video